Breakaway
by Catie Kerwood
Summary: Angela left Colorado for a new life in LA, and almost immediately she hooks up with the Toretto team. But enemies of her brother target her to get at him and suddenly her life is in danger. She should have stayed in Colorado. Rating will go up for a futur
1. I

"I can't stay here one more second!"

"Angela DiMarco stop right there!" Angela stopped on the way to the front door of the house hearing her mothers' yell.

"Momma, I'm going to LA." She said looking at her.

"And do what? Play that silly guitar of yours?" her mother asked, pointing to the case strapped to her daughters' back. "You'll end up on the street playing for quarters."

"I'm good, everyone says I'm good. I played for Marco at his bar since I was thirteen, he even says that I've got serious talent."

"He just said that so you'd jump into bed with him."

"But I didn't."

"Thank god for that. I will not have my eighteen year old daughter be a whore."

"Please momma, just let me go."

"I forbid it."

"I'm 18! A legal adult! I can leave anytime I want, I just want your blessing."

"You won't get it." Angela turned to leave. "You walk out that door, don't even think about coming back, you will be dead to me."

"Goodbye momma." She walked out the door and got into her car, a Ford Escape hybrid. She put her guitar case and her duffel bag full of her clothes and all of her money, $500 dollars, saved up from her performances, in the backseat. She got in the drivers' seat and started it up, her Kelly Clarkson CD playing loudly. She switched it to her favorite song, Breakaway, turning it up full blast and singing along, her voice harmonizing perfectly.

_Grew up in a small town_

_And when the rain would fall down_

_I just stared out my window_

_Dreaming of what could be_

_And if I'd end up happy_

_I would pray (I would pray)_

_Trying hard to reach out_

_But when I'd try to speak out_

_Felt like no one could hear me_

_Wanted to belong here_

_But something felt so wrong here_

_So I pray (I would pray)_

_I could breakaway_

_I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly_

_I'll do what it takes til' I touch the sky_

_I'll make a wish _

_Take a chance _

_Make a change_

_And breakaway_

_Out of the darkness and into the sun_

_But I won't forget all the ones that I loved_

_I'll take a risk_

_Take a chance _

_Make a change_

_And breakaway_

_Wanna feel the warm breeze_

_Sleep under a palm tree_

_Feel the rush of the ocean_

_Get onboard a fast train_

_Travel on a jet plane, far away (I will)_

_And breakaway_

_I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly_

_I'll do what it takes til' I touch the sky_

_I'll make a wish _

_Take a chance _

_Make a change_

_And breakaway_

_Out of the darkness and into the sun_

_But I won't forget all the ones that I loved_

_I'll take a risk_

_Take a chance _

_Make a change_

_And breakaway_

_Buildings with a hundred floors_

_Swinging around revolving doors_

_Maybe I don't know where they'll take me but_

_Gotta keep moving on, moving on_

_Fly away, breakaway_

_I'll spread my wings_

_And I'll learn how to fly_

_Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye_

_I gotta take a risk_

_Take a chance_

_Make a change_

_And breakaway_

_Out of the darkness and into the sun_

_But I won't forget the place I come from_

_I gotta take a risk_

_Take a chance _

_Make a change_

_And breakaway, breakaway, breakaway_

She drove for hours, her heart skipping slightly when she passed the large sign, "Now Leaving Colorado".

A few days later she pulled up at a small diner, Toretto's. Her savings had depleted only a hundred dollars and she was suddenly glad that she had suffered through all those business and budgeting classes when she was in High School. But she was tired and hungry. Stuffing a twenty into her jeans she walked up and sat down at the counter.

"Hi there!" the young woman had dark brown hair, tan skin and kind brown eyes and smile. "What can I get you?"

"Tuna sandwich?"

"Gotta warn you, it sucks." She said and Angela managed a tired chuckle.

"Based on the crap that I've been eating for the past I don't know how many days, it'll probably taste like escargot."

"You must have been goin to pretty crappy restaurants then." The woman said as she fixed her sandwich.

"Roadside diners, greasy, bug infested where the cooks look like the missing link in evolution." She said and the woman laughed.

"Where ya from?"

"Smithfield, Colorado." Angela said, something about this woman made her at ease. The woman gave out a low whistle.

"Long way from home." She said and Angela chuckled humorlessly.

"It was a place to live, not a home." She said and the woman looked at her worriedly as she set the plate down.

"Crappy home life?"

"Understatement of the century, I'm Angela by the way. Angela DiMarco."

"Mia Toretto, you just get into town?"

"Yup." Angela said and took a bite of her sandwich.

"You're probably looking for somewhere to work and stay then."

"Yup." She said again, swallowing that bite.

"Well there's a pretty decent hotel down the road and I could use some help here."

"Doing what?"

"Cashier and keeping my older brother off my back."

"Pain in the ass?"

"Understatement of the century." Mia said smiling. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"Eighteen and on your own already, wow."

"On my own whether I like it or not."

"Mom or dad?"

"Mom, dads outta the picture. I think her words were 'walk out that door and you're dead to me' or something like that."

"Ouch."

"No kidding."

"Well ya got the job."

"That was quick."

"I really need the help." Mia said the corner of Angela's mouth perked in a tired smile. "Now you look like shit, no offence."

"None taken, I know I do."

"When you pull out, take a left and drive straight, the hotel will be on your right."

"Okay, thanks." Angela said, she had finished her sandwich by now and she stood, getting her money.

"Don't bother, it's on the house."

"Thanks."

"Employee discount." Mia said winking at her and Angela put her money back in her pocket. She turned to walk back to her car when Mia's voice stopped her.

"Angela!" she turned around and looked at her. "You know anything about cars? Mechanics?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Because my brother owns a garage and I know he needs a mechanic. How about it? Two paychecks, I'd have to talk to him first though."

"I'll think about it. Thanks Mia."

"No prob." She said and watched as Angela got into her car, driving away and taking her directions. The teams' cars screeched to a halt in front of the diner and they got out, running into the gloom and out of the hot sun. Brian hopped over the counter and kissed her cheek.

"Hey." He said smiling against her skin and she leaned into him.

"We miss anything Mia?" Leon asked as Vince tossed him a soda and Dom went into the back.

"I hired a new cashier."

"Guy or girl?"

"Girl."

"Nice. She hot?"

"I really didn't notice since I'm a girl, but she was kinda pretty." Mia said and Leon and Vince shared a grin. "Calm down guys, she's barely legal."

"How old is she?" Vince asked.

"Eighteen."

"Damn." Leon said. "That's young."

"Yeah it is, so don't try anything."

"What's her name?" Dom asked, coming out of his office.

"Angela DiMarco."

"Where she from?"

"Colorado."

"She a cop?"

"She's eighteen Dominic!"

"And?" Dom asked levelly and noticed the expression on Brian's face. "What's up?" he asked him.

"DiMarco sounds familiar."

"Familiar how?"

"I dunno, but I know I've heard it before." He looked at Mia. "Did she mention having a brother?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Did she say his name?"

"Nope. Why?"

"Because back when I was on the force I picked up an Angelo DiMarco, who was from Smithfield, Colorado."

"That's where Angela is from, think they're related?"

"Might be."

"What you pick him up for?" Leon asked.

"Drug trafficking."

As soon as Angela flopped down on the bed her cell phone began to ring.

"Not happening." She moaned and got it from her bag, flipping it open and holding it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hi little sis!" the voice jolted her.

"Angelo?"

"The one and only. I heard you were in town."

"How'd you hear that? I just got in a half an hour ago." She asked and her fraternal twin brother chuckled.

"I never reveal my sources. I'd love to see you again, catch up, you know all that shit."

"You mean catch up from when you bailed two years ago and never called or wrote, not even an IM?"

"You know I thought about you everyday little sis."

"Stop calling me that, you're older than me by two minutes."

"Still older. How's the music goin?"

"Just great."

"How's mom?"

"Why should I care? I'm dead to her."

"Huh?"

"Long story. I need sleep Angelo."

"Okay sis. Sleep well Angel." He said, using his nickname for her and the line went dead. She shut her phone off and flipped it closed. Well sleep was out of the immediate plans now, her system have being shocked awake by her brother. Instead she got up and got her guitar out of the case, tuned it and started to play a Dashboard Confessional song. There was a banging on the wall from the room next to her halfway through the song.

"Keep it down!" the guy yelled and she sighed, putting her guitar away and lying back on the bed, listening to the constant hum of the small air conditioner. She lay there for a little while before getting up and taking a shower.

When she was done she wiped the fogged up mirror and looked at her reflection. She was kinda pretty with her long light brown hair and pale green eyes. Her face was a pleasant heart shape with high cheekbones, Angelina Jolie lips and slightly upturned nose. Her skin was pale from not being out in the sun and spending most of the time in her room. Her fingers were callused from playing guitar since she was nine and her body was toned from constant exercise. She grabbed her pajamas from the duffel bag and got into them, getting under the light covers on the bed.

Dom thought his new employee, Angela DiMarco. Mia mentioned that Angela knew a little bit about cars and suggested that maybe he should hire her for the garage. Shit, they really couldn't afford to give her one paycheck, forget about two. Mia said that she was staying at the hotel down the street so he _could _swing by and have talk with her. In fact, that's exactly what he'll do. He got up from his chair and went to his car, getting in and driving away from the diner.

Angela woke up to someone knocking on the door. With a groan she got up and brushed through her now dry, tangled hair. She went to the door and peeked out the view hole seeing a large tan man out there.

"Who is it?"

"Dom Toretto, Mia's brother. You Angela DiMarco?"

"Yeah, hold on a sec." She slid back the chain lock and undid the deadbolt, opening the door.

Dom was shocked, he expected some gawky teenager, but what he saw instead, was a mature looking young woman. Her brown hair was sleep tousled and she perked an eyebrow at him.

"Yes?" she asked, her hand resting on the doorframe.

"I'm Mia's brother."

"You said that already. Coming to see if I'm not some whack-job huh?" she asked and he chuckled.

"Something like that. Can I come in, its really hot out here." He said and she thought for a moment.

"Sure come on in." she got out of the way and he stepped into the cool gloom. The door closed behind him and he looked around, there was an open duffel bag at the foot of the bed along with a guitar case.

"You play?" he asked pointing to it and she looked at it.

"Nah, I just think its pretty." She said with a small smile and he smiled back.

"Stupid question."

"Uh...yeah."

"Ya any good?"

"Been told that I am. But you didn't come here to ask about my musical talent."

"No I didn't...Colorado huh?"

"Yeah."

"Ya got any family here?"

"A brother."

"What's his name? Maybe I know him."

"Angelo DiMarco." She said and he paused, as if he was thinking.

"Sounds familiar, but I don't think I know him."

"Be happy that you don't."

"Why is that?"

"Cause he's a prick." She said bluntly and he laughed, she let herself give out a little chuckle.

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen, but somehow I don't think Mia would have left that out."

"She didn't. Trust and verify."

"I can understand that. So...ya a good guy to work for or are you an asshole?"

"Damn you're blunt."

"You have no idea."

"I can be a good guy to work for. But mess with me or the ones I care about and I can be the biggest pain in your ass. I know Mia thinks I'm a big pain."

"Yeah she does, but I don't want to get her in trouble so pretend I didn't say that."

"Why would she get in trouble?"

"I dunno, the last time I called my brother a pain he laughed then gave a black eye." Angela said and he grimaced.

"Did you fight back?"

"I tried, he broke my arm."

"Bastard."

"Told ya he was a prick."

"Mia mentioned that you knew something about cars."

"I helped out in the local garage back home."

"How long ya been doing that?"

"Since the owner of the garage is the one who taught me how to play the guitar, and I've been playing since I was nine..." she looked toward the ceiling, doing the math. "Since I was six, so that's about twelve years or so."

"Your mom didn't mind?"

"Momma didn't know, and as long I was home by dinner time, she didn't care."

"Damn, must've loved that home life." Dom said sarcastically. "Ever been to a street race?"

"There wasn't a straight street a quarter mile long in the town, so no. Why do you ask?"

"There's one tonight, and since you appear to be apart of the Toretto team now, I was wondering if you'd like to come, see the real side of LA."

"Might be fun."

"Always is. So you gonna?"

"Sure, why not."

"Great. Wear your best club clothes."

"Club clothes?" she asked, her eyebrow perked.

"Yeah, you know. Clothes that'll make guys look at you, not that you'll have any problems in that department."

"I don't have any clothes like that." She said. "The most eye catching thing I own is my bright yellow sun dress, and I don't think that'll be appropriate." She said and he sighed.

"Mia will have to loan you something, you're about her size. I'll write down my address for you." He said and grabbed the hotel note pad off the nightstand and a fished a pen from his pocket, he wrote down his address and handed it her. She looked at it and back up at him.

"Dom I just got here. What makes you think I'll have any idea how to get to your house?" she asked and he sighed again.

"Damn, I keep forgetting you're not local. Okay, be at the diner at six."

"That I can do."

"We're making progress then." He walked to the door. "Ya got a nickname?"

"Angel."

"Angel, got it." he opened the door.

"So Dom. Am I a whack-job?" she asked and he chuckled.

"Nah, you seem like an okay kid to me." Dom said looking at her and she smiled a small smile, nodding.

"Good enough for me. It was nice talking to you Dom, you aren't a big of a pain as I thought you'd be."

"Compliment?"

"Coming from me? Hells yeah." She said and he chuckled again. "Bye Dom, see ya tonight."

"Bye Angel." He left the room, closing the door behind him. when he was gone she locked it again and lay back on the bed, her hands behind her head, staring up at the ceiling.


	2. II

Angela pulled up to the diner at six that night. She had just pulled on any old clothes since Mia was lending her clothes anyway. Sitting in the parking lot was the most beautiful car she had ever seen. It was a red Mazda RX-7 with a silver flame design coming up from the grill and red lights under the chassis. She got out of her truck and the door of the Mazda opened, Dom stepping out.

_Figures._ She thought with a snort. They met somewhere in the middle.

"Nice car." She said and he smiled proudly.

"I know isn't it? Would you like to take a look under the hood?"

"I'd love to," she said and they went to the front of his car. He popped the hood and she let out a low whistle. "Be still my heart, I think I'm in love." She said and he chuckled. "A few years ago, back home a street racer rolled into town, no idea why. Anyway he came to the garage for a standard tune up and the owner of the garage, Danny, passed out in joy when he popped the hood. This car would make him go into fits."

"You serious?" Dom asked smiling at her and she looked at him nodding.

"Definite seizures. Now what will I be doing at this race? Or will I be just standing there looking pretty?"

"If I get challenged by a new racer, probably won't, but if I do I want you to look under his hood."

"Look under his hood huh? Wow Dom, pimpin me out already?" she asked and he snorted.

"Oh yeah, you'll turn a real good profit."

"You flatterer you." She said rolling her eyes and he laughed.

"Just look under the hood and tell me if I have a real threat or not."

"Okay." She said.

"Come on, let's go." He said and she pointed the remote for her truck over her shoulder, pressing the button and locking the doors. They got in his car and when he shot away from the diner like a rocket she grabbed the suicide handle above the door.

"Dear lord!" she said, alarmed, and he laughed making her glare at him. "You enjoyed giving me a heart attack didn't you?"

"You have no idea." He said and she continued to glare at him the entire time to his house, her hand had a death grip on the suicide handle. When he pulled up into the driveway she managed to peel her hand off it and get out of the car.

She followed him up into the house and went inside, he closed the door behind her.

"Dominic! 'Bout time you got back!"

"Angel that's Vince." The man who had spoken waved shortly and she waved back. "And the other one is Leon." The other man winked at her, a shrewd smile on his face and she just snorted. "Are Mia and Brian upstairs?" Dom asked and suddenly Angela was yanked from his side, Mia almost dragging her up the stairs. "Damn that girl is quiet." He said shaking his head and went over, sitting with the guys on the couch, joining them in the waiting game. They had already dressed for the race and now they waited for Mia and Angela.

"So Dom? Whatcha learn? About Angela I mean." Leon asked.

"She plays the guitar and her brother _is_ Angelo DiMarco."

"She plays the guitar?" Vince asked, interested and Dom looked at him, nodding. "How long she been playing?"

"She said since she was nine."

"That's longer than I've been."

"Almost ten years for her, and what? Six or seven for you?"

"Six. She any good?"

"I dunno, didn't get a chance to hear her play."

"Acoustic or electric?"

"Well since I didn't see an amp, I'm gonna take a wild stab in the dark and say acoustic."

"Awesome." Vince said.

"I am not wearing that." Angela said as Mia showed her the outfit, black leather pants, a white halter top, the material solid on the bosom but sheer lace around the stomach, and black high heeled boots.

"You'll look really hot Angela." Mia said.

"I'd settle for a tight T-shirt and tight jeans, but not black leather pants and a shirt that shows my tummy." She said.

"Mia could do worse." Brian said and Angela looked at him.

"She probably could. Fine I'll wear them." she grabbed the clothes and went into the closet to change. When she came back out Brian whistled making Mia punch his arm.

"Ow!" he said rubbing his arm.

"Sit." Mia commanded Angela and she sat at the vanity. "Okay, my foundation is way too dark for you, your skin is flawless anyway, but the dark brown eye shadow will bring out your eyes, no need for mascara, you got the feline thing going on with your eyelashes. Now close your eyes." Angela did and Mia applied the makeup. She opened her eyes when she was done and leaned in closer to the mirror.

"Wow, they look so...green." she said sitting back and Mia snorted.

"Well duh. Now for the lips." Mia said and tapped her own gently with her fingertip. "Red will be too stark, brown will be all wrong. What do you think Brian?" she asked looking at him.

"What do _I_ think? I think they look fine, they're all pouty _very_ kissable." He said and received another punch in the arm. "Hey you asked!" Angela sniggered and Mia winked at her through the mirror.

"A clear coat should do it." Mia said and applied a single layer of clear lip-gloss. "Press and pucker." She said and she did, making the coat even. "Now its time for the hair." she said and pulled the elastic out of it, the locks falling down to Angela's elbows.

They guys looked up as Mia and Brian came down the stairs.

"Where's Angel?" Dom asked and Mia looked up the stairs.

"Angela DiMarco get your hot ass down here!" she yelled.

"I look ridiculous!" Angela yelled back.

"You look hot!" Mia said and Brian grinned.

"Yeah she does. Ow! Will you stop hitting me!"

"Angel get down here or I'm sending Dom up to carry you down." Mia said.

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" Angela asked in return.

"Fine I'll send Vince!"

"All right, all right I'm coming, sheesh!" she said and came down the stairs. Mia had styled her hair into fat ringlets that fell around her shoulders. She was met by wolf howls from Dom, Leon and Vince and she stuck her tongue out at them, blushing attractively.

"Dom if she looks like this at eighteen, just imagine what she'll look like at twenty-five." Vince whispered, leaning sideways closer to him so he could hear him.

"Oh my god." Dom whispered, imagining it. "Come on lets go, Angel you're riding with me." Dom said and she perked her eyebrow at him.

"I am so tempted to just plant my feet and not go out into public looking like this." She said and Dom sighed, going to her and picking her up, throwing her over his shoulder. "Dominic Michael Toretto!" she exclaimed and they all laughed.

"How'd you know my middle name?" he asked, surprised.

"Brian told me, now let me down right now!"

"Nope." He fastened an arm around her knees and walked to the door, opening it and walking out, carrying her out of the house. The team followed, still sniggering and watched as Dom opened the passenger side door of his car and dumped Angela in, closing it. Vince locked the house door behind him and they got into their cars, following Dom as he pulled out of the driveway and drove down the street.

Angela shot withering glares at Dom, but didn't say anything.

"So..." Dom started in attempt at starting a conversation. "How ya likin LA?"

"Give me a couple days and I can answer that question." She said sullenly.

"I'm sorry I embarassed you back there."

"No you're not." She said and he smiled.

"You're right I'm not, I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

"Is that all of the team, or are there more members I should know about? Do you guys have like meetings and your own secret handshake or something?" she asked and he had to look at her to figure out if she was kidding or not, her smirk said she was.

"There used to be two other 'members'. One of them, Letty, moved to San Antonio to live with her aunt and the other..." he paused, concentrating heavily on the road. "The other died in a drive-by shooting." He said quickly. "His name was Jesse."

"Oh shit I'm sorry." Angela said looking at him with wide eyes.

"Thanks. Out of the two people involved, one is in prison and the other is dead." He glanced at her quickly, taking in her wide shocked eyes. "I guess drive-by's don't happen in Smithfield."

"No, town is too small." She said and looked down at her leather-clad lap. Looking back up she put her hand on his where it rested on the shifter, his other hand gripping the top of the steering wheel. She eased her fingers under his palm and squeezed slightly. "Were you and Letty...close?"

"Yeah we were together. She broke up with me a couple months after Jesse died, said it was my fault, said it was my fault Vince got hurt, said that if I wasn't such an asshole and actually listened to people then none of that would have happened. She was right. I didn't' listen, Vince got hurt. I was an asshole, I made dangerous enemies, and Jesse died because of it. I should have died in that drive-by, not Jesse, he was just a kid." Dom said and gave out a shuddering sigh that shook his whole chest; it seemed as if he had been holding all of this in for a while now.

She kept her hand on his for the rest of the trip and when they pulled into the packed side street his whole demeanor changed. There was an arrogant set to his shoulders, a cocky smile on his face and the lost look that had been in his eyes vanished and was replaced by pure arrogance. This was a man who was used to people telling how great he was and he loved it, nothing like the broken, guilt-ridden man he had been during the latter half of the ride.

He slid his hand from under hers and he got out of the car to cheers. She followed suit and saw the people looking at her, wondering who she was and what she was doing with Dom. She saw the rest of the team cars stop behind him and get out of their cars, Mia went to her side.

"I don't think there are this many people in my town. It's a little overwhelming." Angela said.

"Don't worry. It's not so bad. Besides, if it gets too much, just find one of us." Mia said and Angela nodded. She looked at her older brother and snorted. "He just loves this role."

"What role?"

"The King of the Streets, all time street racer that's never lost a race."

"He's never lost a single race?" Angela asked with wide eyes and Mia laughed.

"Not one."

"Wow." She said, impressed.

"I know, just wait until you see the race, pure adrenaline."

"Sounds fun."

"Oh it is and its over before you know it." Mia said smiling and Angela found herself looking forward to it.

"Angel!" Dom yelled and she looked at him. He beckoned her over with his hand.

"Gotta go, His Royal Majesty is summoning me." Angela said and Mia snorted. Angela left her and wound herself through the people, going to Dom's side. "Yes Your Highness?" she asked with perfect innocence and obedience and Dom closed his eyes, biting his lip to keep from laughing. "Should I like bow or something, being the presence of the Asphalt King?" the people around her laughed and Dom bit his lip harder, his face turning red.

"Are you having fun?" he struggled to get out, opening his eyes.

"You embarassed me, now I'm embarrassing you. Only fair." She said and he calmed down, taking deep breathes.

"Okay, now we're even." He said and she nodded.

"Damn Dom." Said the man in front of them with a slight Spanish accent. "Where'd you find this girl?"

"Angel this is Hector. Hector this is Angela DiMarco, my new mad scientist." Dom said, lazily draping his arm around her shoulders and she crossed her arms over her stomach.

"Nice to meet you Hector." She said nodding.

"Nice to meet you too." He said looking her up and down. "Very nice." She blushed again and rolled her eyes.

"Angel the other guy giving you lewd looks is Edwin." Dom said and she looked at the African-American man standing next to Hector.

"DiMarco huh?" he asked and she nodded.

"That's right."

"You related to Angelo DiMarco?" he asked and she sighed, touching her forehead.

"What has my dick head older brother done now?"

"He's your older brother?" Edwin asked.

"Yeah unfortunately for me, older by two minutes." She said, crossing her arms again.

"Twin?"

"Fraternal, not identical." Angela said and he nodded. She looked up at Dom. "You call me over here for a reason?"

"Oh yeah! I need you to look at this guys car." Dom said moving his head at another guy. The guy was staring at her lips as if wondering how good they would fit. She rolled her eyes and looked back at Dom as he handed her a small penlight. "You'll need this." She took it from him.

"Lead the way." She said to the guy and he grinned perversely. Dom's arm tightened around her shoulders and the guy looked at him, the grin falling and his eyes going to the ground.

"Its this way." He mumbled and turned, walking off. The crowd split like the Red Sea to allow them to pass.

"What's he racing with? Money or slips?" she asked Dom.

"For someone who's never gone to a street race you sure don't talk like it."

"Mia told me some key words."

"Okay, and he's racing for slips. You know what that is?"

"It means that if he loses the race, the person who wins gets his car."

"You're a quick learner." He said and they stopped at the guys' car. She stopped at the front and looked at it.

"Well the outside is...pretty." she said and few people laughed. Her hands hovered over the hood. "May I?" she asked looking at him.

"Go right ahead." He mumbled, looking at Dom who was hovering in the background. Angela shot him a glance and he backed up slightly but still stayed within reaching distance. She popped the hood and clicked on the light, leaning over and looking everything over, naming what he had, her voice raised so the people could hear her. Mia had explained that these races were really show and tell, whoever had the best parts had the most respect.

When she was done, she clicked off the light and lowered the hood, locking it.

"Well? Am I worthy?" he asked and she looked at him before going over to Dom and placing a hand around his neck, pulling him down slightly and raising herself so she could whisper in his ear. He smiled and nodded at her when she pulled away.

"You're in." Dom said to him and the kid smiled. "Now Angel would you like to tell everyone what you told me?" he asked and she nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Okay, while his car is impressive, compared to Dom's, it's lacking. In other words..." she said, a slow grin coming over her face. "Easy money." She said and the crowd howled, the man looking at her in horror.

"Shit." he said and his head hung, it was too late to back out, if he did he would be labeled a coward and lose all street cred, same thing with if he didn't show up, he had to go through with the race. The crowd dispersed and Dom turned to her, resting his hands on her shoulders.

"You're gonna go with Mia. Okay?"

"Okay." She said nodding and as if summoned, Mia appeared at her elbow.

"Come on girl." She said and Mia led her away and into her car. The people streamed out in their cars out of the side street, the team falling back into V-formation. "Ya did good. I know Dom was impressed."

"Really?"

"Really. You handled being the spotlight really well. Almost as if you were used to it."

"I used to perform at a local bar back home, play old country tunes on my guitar, and some stuff that I wrote." She said and Mia glanced at her briefly, as if surprised.

"Really?" she asked.

"Really."

"Do ya got your guitar in your truck?"

"Nah, it's at the hotel. Why?"

"We always have a party after the race, and Vince plays the guitar."

"Have a little contest on who's better?"

"Just a thought."

"He's probably played longer than I have, being older than me."

"You sure don't act your age."

"I act older right?"

"Yeah."

"I've always been like that." Angela said and Mia nodded. They reached the wide one-way street, cars already starting to block the entrance. She saw Leon in his Skyline and he winked at her again as Mia drove past. She pulled into a spot near the end line and they got out, standing on the sidelines. After a few minutes the distant sound of engines got louder and soon Angela saw Dom's Mazda shoot over the finish line, the four other cars not far behind. "He won."

"He always wins, I told you that." Mia said smiling and they walked over to Dom's car. He got out and greeted them with a smile.

"You hold the money." He said pointing to Mia as Hector came over, handing him four stacks of bills wrapped in a pink slip. Dom just handed the money right to Mia. "Count it, make sure it's all there." he told her quietly and she nodded. The losing racer walked over, a few CD cases in one hand and his keys in the other. Angela kept quiet, no matter how much she wanted to say something, but it was Dom's victory, not hers.

"I shoulda never thought that I could beat you. You're unbeatable. My car is yours, fair and square. I got a buddy to ride home with." He said and handed Dom the keys.

"It was a good race, you came close second. Maybe someday you will beat me." Dom said and the guy shrugged.

"What're you gonna do with it?"

"Make it better, so it can beat my car, or at least come close."

"Who're you gonna give it to when you're done? Or are you gonna sell it?"

"I don't know yet."

"You should give it to her." the guy said pointing briefly to Angela. "Something tells me she'll take good care of it."

"I already have a car." Angela said and Dom looked at her, smiling.

"A Ford Escape is not a car, it's an SUV. And you ain't gonna be driving that if you're gonna be apart of this team."

"What's wrong with my SUV?"

"Well for one thing it's an SUV." Dom said and the crowd laughed, she punched his arm playfully.

"Ow!" he said still smiling and rubbing his arm where she punched. "I think I will give it to you. After we all get done enhancing it."

"And what about my Escape?"

"That can be a team car, one we can all fit in for like road trips or somethin."

"Okay, ya got yourself a deal." She said and held out her hand for him to shake. He took it and they finalized the deal.

"Take good care of that car." The driver said and she looked at him, nodding.

"I will." She said and he nodded, walking away and disappearing into the crowd.

"Come on, let's go." Dom said removed a phone from his pocket. "Lets pack it up Leon." He said into it, the crowd began to disperse, going with their parties to their separate cars.

"'Kay Dom." Leon's voice came through. Dom handed her the keys to his new car.

"You don't expect me to drive it now do you?"

"Of course. How else am I going to get it to my house?" He asked and she shrugged.

"Good point." She took the keys from him and went over to the car, unlocking it and getting into the drivers' side, closing the door. Dom came over and leaned into the open window. "It doesn't feel right. You know? This car isn't mine, it doesn't feel right to drive it, especially after seeing how sad the guy was to see it gone."

"This happens Angel, its all part of being a racer." He said, resting his arms on the window frame.

"But I'm not a racer."

"But I am. I won this car, and now I'm giving it to you."

"Still doesn't feel right."

"That feeling will pass, it did for me. How do you think the team got their cars? I won them from other drivers in races."

"I know. I'm just saying that it doesn't feel right."

"Listen, just get it to the house and after the party we'll all sit down and figure out what to do with it."

"Dom about the party, I'm awfully tired and I..."

"And I would be insulted if you didn't come. This was your first race, you deserve this party."

"Okay."

"Besides, I gotta talk to you about the job at the garage. We'll talk after the party."

"Okay." She said looking at the steering wheel and out of the corner of her eye saw him lean forward. His lips pressed against her cheek briefly and she looked at him when he pulled away. "What was that for?"

"I was proud of you tonight, this was your first race, your first analysis of a car, ya did good." he said and she looked at the steering wheel again.

"Thanks Dom." Angela said watched as he walked away, getting into his car. She put the key into the ignition and started the car, the engine roaring to life and settling into a constant purr. The feeling in the pit of her stomach grew. _Still doesn't feel right._ She thought as she put it in gear. It was a standard but that didn't matter to her, she knew how to drive a standard since before she even got her license. She followed Dom out of the now abandoned street, the feeling still growing.


	3. III

When Dom pulled up in front of the house he noticed that two spaces had been left open, one for him and one for Angela. That made him smile, it seemed like the team was starting to accept her. Angela parked in the other empty space and turned off the car, getting out and locking it. The party was already in full swing, music emanating from the front windows. He put his arm around her shoulders again and led her up the front steps, opening the front door and they went inside.

"You know all these people?" she asked and he looked at her, smiling at her innocence.

"No, I probably don't know half these people." He said and Leon came over, a woman on his arm and a beer in his hand.

"Awesome bro as always." He said.

"Thank you." Dom said smirking.

"And to you Angel, never would have guessed that that was your first face."

"Thanks Leon." Angela said shyly.

"What? No sarcastic remark?" he asked and she chuckled.

"I'm tired." She said and he held his beer out to her.

"Take this, it'll wake you up." He said and Dom snatched it out of his hand.

"What the hell you thinkin Leon! She's only eighteen!" Dom exclaimed.

"Shit I forgot I'm sorry."

"You're only eighteen?" the woman asked and Angela looked at her nodding. "Starting awfully young aren't you? I mean you're barely legal."

"Starting what?"

"Chasing."

"Chasing what?" she asked and suddenly Dom tensed.

"She's not a racer chaser, unlike some girls."

"What's a racer chaser?" Angela asked looking up at him.

"You might call them racing groupies."

"But a groupie is a girl who..." it suddenly dawned on her and her eyes went wide. "Oh. Dear lord, I haven't been at this party for twenty minutes and already I've been offered a beer and called a whore. Wonderful track record I'm starting."

"Maybe you should stick with Mia or I at this party. I don't want any guys getting the same idea as what's-her-name here."

"Tiffany." Leon said.

"Its Brittany!" the woman said indignantly.

"Oops." Leon said and Dom pulled Angela away from them, going into the living room and leaning against the wall.

"Where's Mia and Brian?" she asked and Dom looked around.

"Probably upstairs doin her med school homework, at least I hope that's what they're doing."

"She's a big girl Dom, and she has a boyfriend."

"I know, but I just keep picturing her as this little pig-tailed, overall wearing little girl that used to follow Vince and I around everywhere we went."

"Now what about Brian? I mean I get Leon and Vince, but Brian, he doesn't seem the type to join a street racing team. He's more of the kindergarten teacher type that all the little girls want to marry when they grow up."

"That's a long story I'll tell you later. But he used to be a cop."

"Really?"

"Yeah, quit though."

"Why?"

"That's part of the story."

"Which I won't be hearing until later, right."

"You're catching on." Dom said smiling, "Would you like something to drink? A soda or something?"

"I'd love a soda." She said smiling and he pushed away from the wall, lacing his arm around her waist loosely and leading her into the kitchen. He got her a soda while he grabbed a Corona from the fridge and they leaned against the sink, the open window letting cool wisps of air hit their back. "So Dom. Tell me about yourself. How'd you come into street racing?"

"Okay, well I've always loved cars, loved driving. Got that from my father. In fact the earliest memory I have of driving is when I was five years old. He had me propped up on his lap, both hands on the steering wheel." He set down his beer and held his hands out like he was holding the steering wheel again. "We just kept going faster and faster. I remember hearing him laughing, the faster we went, the happier he was. I used to drag race back in High School, must have got arrested for it a thousand times, but that was before I learned how parking garages could help me avoid the cops." He said, taking a drink of his beer and smiling when she did. "What about you?"

"What about me? You already know a bunch about me."

"I meant, when was the first time you drove?"

"I must have been like eleven. Danny needed help getting a car into the garage and everyone else was preoccupied with working on other cars. I mean it was just backing it up, he could have done it himself, but he wanted me to do it. So he adjusted the seat so I could actually reach the pedals and I just backed the car up into the garage, with him sitting in the passenger seat. After my brother split when we were sixteen, he put me in his candy apple red '69 Barracuda. Then we went to the train tracks outside of town, he lined it up and then he put me in the drivers seat and told me to drive straight as fast as I could, just gun it. And I did."

"How'd it make you feel?" Dom asked smiling.

"It felt wonderful. I must have been going over a hundred, but all I could feel was the engine, all I could see was the road in front of me. Everything else just vanished. I wasn't scared that I was going to crash or lose control, I just wanted to go faster and faster and faster. When Danny had me stop, he told me that I just drove a quarter mile in a little over nine seconds. In those nine seconds I was free, nothing but me and that car."

"Okay, now I'm convinced." Dom said nodding.

"Convinced of what?"

"You're supposed to be a racer. If you had told me that you _had_ been afraid of crashing or losing control I would have known right then that you didn't have the nerve for racing, but since you didn't, I know that you could be a kick ass racer. Once we get that car fixed up, you're racing it."

"I don't think that's such a good idea Dom."

"Why not?"

"Because street racing and driving along _abandoned _railroad tracks are two different things."

"You'll be great." He said and she knew that there was nothing she could say that would change his mind.

"So..." she started, changing the topic. "Mia's in med school? Wow."

"Yeah." Dom said. "I'm real proud of her for it, she's gonna do something really good with her life and not be stuck here."

"Dom you have no idea how good you have it here. Until you've lived in a small town, you'll have no idea. Smithfield is...a full stop in your life. You could have been in the National Honor Society, Valedictorian of your senior class but chances are you would have stayed in Smithfield and ended up a used cars salesman. I got lucky I have a talent. If I didn't I probably would have ended up a waitress at the all-night diner down the street serving day old coffee and cold hash browns." She said and he looked down at his feet. "Dom, look at me." She lightly touched his jaw with her fingertips and he met her eyes again. "Here you could be anything. A street racer..." Dom smiled at that, making her smile in return. "A mechanic, anything. Don't take what you've got for granted Dominic and don't put it down, because you don't know how it is to live knowing that you will live and die around the only people you will ever now, regretting that you never got out while you had the chance." Angela said, her hand dropping back to her side and he nodded.

"Well when you put it _that_ way. This doesn't so bad after all. I would have gone insane in Smithfield, Colorado." Dom said.

"Yeah you probably would have, the adrenaline junkie that you are, but you would have made it interesting." Angela said and he smiled, looking down again. She looked over and snorted. "Wow."

"What?" he asked looking at her.

"I looked at the clock. I've been in LA for twelve hours and in that twelve hours I've gotten a call from my brother, became the 'mad scientist' for the most respected street racing team in LA, been to a street race, won a street racing car, and am now at a party. More things have happened in these twelve hours than have happened in my entire life. And..." she looked down. "I'm wearing leather pants. I've never even _seen_ leather pants except for in magazines and movies." She said and Dom put his beer down, inching his fingers around her hips.

"You look _hot_ in leather pants." He said pulling her forward so their hips connected. He wanted to kiss her so badly it hurt. His hands slid up into the sheer lace and his fingers wrapped almost completely around her waist. Her tongue darted out; wetting those full lips and he just barely resisted groaning.

"Where is she!" they heard and left the kitchen seeing a well-dressed man storming into the house.

"Angelo?" she asked incredulously and he looked at her.

"Angela!" he said and approached them, pushing Dom away. "Don't you dare touch her!" he yelled and Dom pushed back.

"Don't tell me what to do!" he yelled back. "I wasn't doing anything she didn't want me to!" Angelo was suddenly punched across the jaw, Edwin standing off to the side.

"You fuckin prick!" Edwin yelled. "You know that batch you sold my sister? It killed her!"

"Hey man I didn't make her buy it." Angelo said and Edwin roared, going after him but Dom stopped him, placing his body in the way.

"Let me at him Dom!" the yelling had everyone's attention and all eyes were on them.

"STOP!" Angela yelled and everyone froze, she looked around. "Vince get Edwin outta here!" She said and Vince came over, grabbing Edwin and pulling him out. She then pointed to Angelo. "Angelo Paolo DiMarco get your ass outside now!" she said, her voice suddenly had an Italian accent. He cursed at her in Italian and she narrowed her eyes at him. "_Mi scusi?_ Outside now and if you call me that again I will lose Mia's boot in your ass. Now go!" she yelled, pointing to the door. He left the house and she went after him, the door slamming closed behind her, Dom following suit.

He found the siblings arguing in rapid, animated Italian on the sidewalk. Angela was pushing his shoulder and pointing at the house. Angelo was gesturing to her outfit and pointing at the house, when he saw Dom his voice raised even louder, pointing at him. Angela pointed at him and put her hands up. Angelo suddenly yelled something and Angela punched him across the jaw, knocking him to the ground and making Dom wince sympathetically. Angelo staggered to his feet, spitting blood out of his mouth.

"Leave Angelo!" finally, English. "And if I ever get referenced as 'Angelo's sister', I will track you down and kick your ass." She said and he nodded, getting into a black sedan that was parked haphazardly on the sidewalk, starting it up and driving away. "I'm sorry you had to see that Dom." She said and he walked down the steps standing in front of her. "How's Edwin?"

"Cooling down, but he'll be fine."

"No he won't. Drugs killed his sister, drugs that my brother sold her. The DiMarco name is forever tainted." She said and there was a long pause.

"I didn't know that you could speak Italian."

"My poppa was Italian, Angelo and I took classes in middle school and high school."

"But you're so pale."

"Yeah but I tan up real nicely."

"I bet you do." Dom said. "Damn." She laughed weakly. "I'm gonna go back inside. Ya gonna join me, or stay here a little while longer?" people were starting to come out and get into their cars. Brittany coming out and leaving with a guy that definitely wasn't Leon.

"Looks like Leon isn't getting lucky tonight." She said and Dom laughed and held his hand out to her, she took it and they went back into the house. Vince, Leon, and Edwin were in the dining room, Edwin seated in a chair with his head in his hands and Vince and Leon standing on either side of him. He looked up when Dom and Angela approached, his eyes flicking to her and back down.

"Sorry Dom." He muttered.

"For what?"

"You know."

"Ain't nothing to be sorry about, I woulda done the same thing if it had been Mia, but I probably would have killed him." Dom said and Edwin nodded, then looked at Angela, who was looking at him sadly.

"Don't worry baby-girl, I ain't into the whole eye-for-an-eye shit."

"It's not that. It's just that damnit Edwin I'm sorry for what my brother did."

"Don't apologize for him Angel, it wasn't your fault." Edwin said and stood from the chair. Angela went to him and hugged him; he hesitated but hugged back.

"I really am sorry Edwin."

"I know baby-girl." He pulled away and kissed her forehead.

"If it makes you feel better I punched him and threatened to kick his ass." Angela said and Edwin smiled.

"Makes me feel a little better."

"Knocked him to the ground too, you shoulda seen it Edwin, sold right hook." Dom said and Edwin laughed.

"Now I feel even better knowing a little thing like her knocked Angelo DiMarco to the ground and threatened to beat the shit outta him." he said and walked away to leave but stopped when he was next to Dom. "Take good care of her Dom, she deserves it."

"Yeah, she does." Dom said nodding and they both looked at her.

"She's a good person."

"Yeah, she is."

"Okay. I'm just gonna go get my clothes from Mia." Angela said and fled quickly, running up the stairs as fast as she could in heels, making the guys laugh.

When she got to Mia's room she knocked on the door gently, knowing that Brian was in there with her. She got no response so she opened the door lightly and saw them asleep on the bed in their own sleep clothes. She went into the closet and got her clothes, leaving, closing the door behind her quietly and going into the bathroom to take a shower and change. When she came back down, leaving the clothes in Mia's room, Edwin was gone, Vince and Leon were nowhere to be found and Dom was sitting on the couch, his head resting against the back and his eyes fixed on the ceiling. He looked at her and he patted the couch next to him. She went over and sat next to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"That party was interesting." She said and he chuckled. "I should have stayed in Colorado."

"Because of what happened with Edwin? How were you supposed to know that your brother would show up tonight? How were you supposed to know what happened to Edwin's sister? _I_ didn't even know."

"I should go back, keep y'all outta trouble, 'cause you know that this isn't the end of it."

"You go back to that town you hate so much and I'm going there and bringing you back." he said and she took her head off his shoulder, looking at him.

"You would do it too."

"You bet your ass I would." He said seriously. She hugged him suddenly, laying her head on his chest.

"Thanks Dom." She said and he wrapped his arms around her.

"We interrupting anything?" they pulled away and saw Leon and Vince standing in the living room. Vince had her duffel bag hanging from his hand and her guitar case strapped to his back. "'Cause if we are we can go so you two can..." Vince said and ducked as Angela threw an empty cup at him. Leon tossed her the keys to her truck and she caught them with a swipe of her hand through the air.

"Your truck is a sweet ride, so smooth." Leon said.

"What's going on? Why was Leon driving my truck and why does Vince have my stuff?" Angela asked looking at Dom.

"Well you see Angel, being apart of the Toretto team has its benefits."

"Such as?"

"Free room and board."

"You're joking." She said and he smiled, shaking his head.

"What did you think we'd let you live in that hotel room forever?" he asked.

"But you just met me and..."

"But nothing. You a part of this team, you're gonna live with all of us." He said and stood. "Come on, I'll show you to your new room." she got off the couch and went to get her stuff from Vince but he held up his hand.

"I got it babe, just go."

"Thanks Vince."

"Call me V, or Coyote, either one works." He said and she nodded, smiling tiredly.

"Okay Coyote." She said and followed Dom up the stairs; they stopped at the door next to Mia's.

"Here you are."

"Whose room did it used to be?"

"Letty's."

"I'll look for a place to live tomorrow and..." she started but he put his fingertip against her lips, silencing her.

"Not another word." He said and when he was sure she wouldn't say anything more on the subject, his hand dropped to his side. "You're a member of this team, you're gonna live with us."

"Like one big happy family, right?"

"Something like that. Understood?"

"Yes Sir!" she said saluting and he chuckled. She opened the door but he stopped her.

"What? No goodnight kiss?" he asked, only half-jokingly and she smiled, going up on tiptoe and kissing his cheek. "Not where I wanted it, but okay."

"Goodnight Dom." She said and went into the bedroom.

"I mean just a quick peck on the lips wouldn't hurt, right?"

"Goodnight Dom." She said again, smiling.

"Its not like I have cooties or anything."

"I'm closing the door now." And she did, but didn't move away from it.

Dom looked at the closed door and sighed heavily.

"Goodnight Angel." He walked away and went into his own room across the hall, closing the door.

Angela opened the door when Vince dropped her stuff off and wished him a goodnight. She closed the door and got into her pajamas, keeping her clothes in the bag, after all she didn't know if this was gonna work out or not.

She brushed through her hair and got under the white sheets, moonlight coming in from the window.

"What am I getting myself into?" she asked herself quietly and lay there in the silence until sleep took her over.


	4. IV

Angela woke up at dawn, the rising sun casting rays into her room. No, into _Letty's_ room. What if Letty decided to come back? She was a member of the team long before Angela came to town and if she decided that she wanted to be a member again, they have every right to tell the newest member to take a hike.

Getting up, she took her David Usher CD out of her bag along with her CD player and put it in, putting the ear bud headphones in her ears and starting it, turning it to Black Black Heart. This song always made her mother angry, mainly because it was a song about sex, and somehow it always managed to play really loud (hehe). She turned her player off when the song was done and got out of bed, walking down to the kitchen in her red, black, and white pajama shorts and T-shirt. Making coffee was easy, since the coffee maker they had was the same one she had back home.

She sat down on the couch in the living room, never having been the one to spend the entire day in bed. Mia came down about an hour later, looking at her in sleepy confusion.

"What're you still doing here?" she asked yawning.

"Apparently I'm moving in, whether I want to or not."

"Dom?"

"Yup." Angela said and Mia snorted.

"Figures. I smell coffee, did you make coffee?"

"Yup."

"You are a goddess." She said as she walked into the kitchen. "You want any?"

"No thanks, I don't drink coffee."

"Now you're an abnormal goddess." Mia said and Angela chuckled. "Damn this is good coffee." She said as she came back into the living room, sipping from a mug. "You so don't want Dom to make coffee."

"Why not?"

"Because I think the city paves roads with it." Mia said and Angela snorted.

"That bad huh?"

"Oh yeah."

"Brian still asleep?"

"Yup, he won't be awake until noon. Speaking of which. What're you doin up so early?"

"I woke up."

"Pretty good reason."

"Why are _you_ up so early?"

"I woke up."

"Pretty good reason."

"Okay, well I'm gonna go take a shower, maybe that'll help me wake up some more." She said getting off the couch and going to the stairs.

"Enjoy."

"Probably will." Mia said as she climbed the stairs and took another sip of coffee. "Seriously good coffee." She mumbled and Angela smiled to herself. After a little while she also got up from the couch and went back up to her new room. She flopped face down on the bed with her head lying on her arms.

She must have dozed off because she woke up to someone moving her hair back and blowing in her ear. When she jerked away she heard Vince laugh.

"Go away scruffy." She groaned and turned her head away.

"Wake up Angel, Dom wants to talk to you."

"Then he can come to me, I'm not his bitch." She said and Vince snorted, straightening.

"Okay." He said and she listened as he went to the door. "Dom!"

"What?" she heard him yell back.

"She said that you can come to her, she's not your bitch."

"Really? Is that what she said?"

"Yup."

"Plan B." He said and Angela rolled onto her back, confused.

"What's...Vince let me down right now!" Vince had picked her up in his arms and was carrying her out of the room.

"I will drop you." He warned and she stopped struggling, though reluctantly. He carried her down the stairs and dropped her on the couch next to Dom.

"Morning sleepy head." Dom said, smiling smugly at her.

"Shut up." She said and he laughed.

"Thanks V."

"No prob." He said and sat down in the chair. "Girl," he looked at Angela. "You must be one-ten soakin wet. Like to find out?"

"Not really no." she said and looked at Dom. "You wanted to talk to me?"

"We need to start working on that car."

"I thought I was going to be working at the diner."

"I talked with Mia. Brian will be helping her out on the weekdays and you on the weekends, the rest of the time you'll be at the garage." He said and she nodded. "Okay, shower, get dressed, do whatever you gotta do and get back down here."

"Okay." She said and got off the couch, walking to the stairs. "And guys?"

"Yeah?" they asked in unison.

"Stop looking at my ass." She said and their eyes snapped away from her round behind that was accentuated by the shorts. She climbed the stairs and went into the bathroom, taking a shower and scrubbing the beginnings of sweat off her skin.

Wrapped in a towel, she looked both ways down the hall to make sure none of the guys were around before running to her room and closing the door behind her. She got dressed in a pair of jeans and a tank top with a T-shirt on over it, putting her sneakers on and her hair into messy knot at the back of her head. She bounced merrily down the stairs and Dom tossed her the keys to her new car, a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo-7 he had told her. She got the CDs from her truck and got into her new car, starting it up. Dom pulled out of the driveway and drove down the street, Angela driving after him.

He parked in front of a garage, DT Performance, and before she could turn off the car he came to the window.

"Back it up into the side alley and into the garage, its all clear so you'll have enough room." He said and she nodded.

"Okay." He ran away from the car and into the garage. She put the car in gear and drove forward, turning the car so the back end was facing the alley then turning in her seat, putting the car in reverse and backing it up, turning it slowly and carefully so it went into the garage. When Dom held his hands up she stopped and turned off the ignition, getting out.

"That's perfect." He said and Vince came walking into the garage, but stopped as he saw something behind Dom.

"What's he doin here?" he asked and they both looked seeing Brian working on something with Leon.

"O'Connor!" Dom yelled and Brian looked at him, wiping his hands off and walking forward. "Why aren't you at the diner with Mia?"

"She wasn't feeling well so I took her home and she told me to come here." Brian said and looked at Angela, moving his head at her. "What's up Angel?"

"Nothin much, getting ready to work on my new car." She said and he smiled.

"Awesome. Well if you need any help, just call Leon or I over and we'll give you a hand." he said and she nodded.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"What's wrong with Mia?" Dom asked, returning to the subject at hand.

"Oh, she just said that she wasn't feeling well, stomach ache, and that if you had any comments to just call her." Brian said and Dom nodded, taking his cell phone out and hitting a number. He walked further into the garage and Brian came over, leaning against the car and looking at Angela. "So what's the deal with you and Dom? You together?"

"Where'd you get that idea?" she asked and he shrugged.

"The way he looks at you mostly, the way he acts around you."

"Yeah? And how's that?"

"The same way he did with Letty. Whenever he's close enough, he has his arm around you."

"He's just trying to make me feel welcome."

"Its more than that. Now I better get back over there before Leon comes over and kicks my ass." He said, pushing away from the car and she smiled.

"See ya blue eyes." she said and he ruffled her hair, she batted his hand away and pushed his chest.

"Okay, well get some rest sweet heart. Ya want me to pick something up for you? Soup or something?" Dom said, still on his cell phone, coming into the main area again. "All right, get some sleep. Bye." He ended the call and slipped his phone back into his jeans. "Okay, lets get to work."

"You guys know more about street racing cars than I do, so whatever you guys think is right for my car then its great with me."

"_Your _car? What happened to 'this doesn't feel right'?" Dom asked smirking and she shrugged.

"Feeling's gone, you gave me this car, which you won fair and square. It's a nice car, a beautiful car." She said as she skimmed her fingertips along the hood. "Of course the pain job will have to change, silver with black tiger stripes. I'm thinking we reverse the colors so its black with silver tiger stripes."

"Sounds good, but painting comes after we get everything done." Dom said and she looked up at him.

"Oh I know. I'm just saying." She said and he nodded.

"V, instead of just standing there. Why don't you go work on that engine for the Supra with Leon and Brian?" he said over her shoulder. Vince walked past her and over to the two, casting Brian a cold look.

"No love lost between those two." Angela muttered.

"That's just bad blood and old rivalry. Brian let it go, but Vince is the bulldog of the team." Dom said, standing close to her side.

"Once he gets his teeth into something he never lets go."

"Exactly." He said nodding and looking at her. "Lets get to work, for real this time." They went around to the front of the car and he popped the hood, resting his arm loosely around her shoulders. Angela had taken Brian's words to heart and remembered what he said; Dom _did_ always find some reason to have his arm around her shoulders or waist.

She looked up at him as he began to talk about what parts they would be needing, he seemed to be completely at ease while he was talking about cars and she understood right then that cars were air to him, necessary for him to survive. It was something she could relate to, but with her it was music. If she wasn't making it or listening to it, it was if she was only half-alive.

He met her eyes and smiled.

"You have no idea what I just said, did you?"

"Nope, not one bit. I told you, when it comes to parts I'm stupid, I'm better at installing the parts and making sure that they're working properly and doing what they need to do at the best of their ability." She said and he nodded, looking back down at the car then back at her.

"How's this? You let me take care of actually getting the parts and the installation and everything is all yours, but of course, if you need help we'll be here."

"Got it." she said nodding.

"Okay, I'm gonna go order those parts, they should be in either tomorrow or the day after."

"What do I do until then?"

"Uh...you know anything about welding?" he asked and she shrugged.

"When I wasn't working on the internal stuff back home I was doing auto body and that included welding." She said and he nodded.

"Okay. The Supra the guys are working on, the chassis needs welding. Do ya think you could do that?"

"Yeah I could do that."

"Okay, just ask one of the guys to show you where everything is, I'm gonna go make some calls." He said and moved away from her, walking deeper into the garage, but he stopped and turned around. "Oh and Angel?"

"Yeah Dom?" Angela asked looking at him, her fingers in her pockets.

"You look _great_ in those jeans."

"Go make your calls."

"Yes ma'am!" he said and she chuckled. He turned and walked into a back office and she went over to the guys.

"Hey guys?" she asked and they looked up at her. "Dom's got me on the chassis welding, can one of you show me where everything is?" she asked and Leon stood, wiping his hands off on a rag.

"Yeah babe, I'll show you. Right this way." He led her away from the others and deep into the garage.

"You sure you wanna leave those two alone? They might try to kill each other." Angela asked, casting a wary look at Vince and Brian, Leon chuckled.

"They won't try anything, besides Vince got his ass kicked by Brian once before, he ain't gonna try that one again. That and he's been having trouble with his right arm lately."

"The one with the scar?"

"Yup, lots of nerve damage with that one."

"What happened? Did he get into an accident?"

"You could call it that. But that's a long ass story."

"That's what Dom said."

"Really?" his tone was nonchalant in an effort to drop the topic so she dropped it. "Well here they are." He said gesturing to the tools.

"Thanks Leon."

"No prob babe, have fun." Leon said and went to walk away, but he stopped and looked at her. "Hey Angel?" he asked and she looked up from the welders' goggles she had picked off the wall.

"Yeah Leon?"

"You wanna catch a movie later on?"

"Just the two of us?"

"Yeah, I mean we don't have to go alone, Mia and Brian can come too if they want."

"Nah, I'm still settling in, I just got to LA yesterday mind you."

"Yeah you did didn't you."

"Maybe next weekend."

"Yeah maybe. Well I just thought maybe you'd be interested."

"Thanks for asking."

"No prob, have fun with those welds, they're a stone bitch." Leon said and she laughed.

"Thanks for the heads up." She said and he smiled and walked away.

A couple hours later she cut off the stream of blue flame coming from the welder. She lifted the goggles and inspected the line in the metal, blowing on it to cool it down before she touched it gingerly, adding pressure to make sure that they would hold. During the welding she had gotten heated so she had taken off the T-shirt and sweat glistened on her upper lip, a bead of sweat traveling down the center of her back.

Confident that the welds would hold, she put the torch and goggles back on the wall and released her hair, running her fingers through it in attempt to tame it before putting it back up. There was a tickle on the back of her neck and she knew someone was watching her. She turned around and saw Vince standing a ways behind her, looking at her intently.

"You need something V?" she asked looking back at the car and dropping to a crouch again, pretending to check the welds again. There was only so much time she could spend down here before he realized that she wasn't checking welds. So after a moment she stood and turned around, he had been standing right behind her and caught her by surprise, making her jump back against the car. He walked closer to her and reached out, cupping her jaw. "V?"

"Just one kiss." He whispered and kissed her gently on the lips, his lips didn't stay gentle though and soon were pressing hard against hers, moving against them roughly. She put her hands against his chest and tried to push him back but he wouldn't budge. Her mind went in a panic and she pushed even harder, forcing him back. She looked at him with wide eyes and he left quickly, almost running. Her cell phone started to ring and she pulled it out of her pocket with shaking hands.

"H-hello?" she asked.

"Angela, what's wrong? You sound spooked." It was Mia.

"Nothing."

"You sure?"

"Yeah I'm sure. Now what's up?"

"I need you to get something for me."

"What?"

"A home pregnancy test."

"Mia are you...?" Angela started, shocked.

"I don't know, I might be. I mean my periods late and I just...you can't let Dom find out, he'll freak and so will Brian...I mean, god!" she sounded panicky and scared.

"Calm down Mia, I'll get it for you and then you'll know for sure. Okay?"

"Okay, thanks Angel."

"No prob. Now have a cup of tea or something, calm yourself down, if you are...you know...being stressed out isn't good for it."

"I know I know." she took several deep breaths, exhaling heavily into the phone each time. "Okay, I'm calm I'm calm. Now there's a drug store a couple blocks from the garage, I'll give you directions." She said.

"Just let me get something to write on."

"Okay." Mia said and Angela pulled a small memo pad and a pen from her pocket, both of which she carried around everywhere.

"Okay, go ahead." She said and Mia gave her the directions, Angela writing them down carefully, making sure not to leave anything out. "Okay, I'll go get it now, and I'll be right over okay?"

"Okay, you're the best Angel."

"See ya in a bit."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye." She ended the call and flipped her cell phone closed. She went to Dom's office and leaned against the doorframe. "Knock, knock." She said and he looked up at her from the papers scattered on his desk.

"Hey, you finished?" he asked.

"Yup. I just wanted to know if it's alright if I take my car, Mia just called my cell and asked me to pick something up for her."

"What?"

"A magazine, she's bored and got nothing to read." The lie slipped from her lips so easily, it made her feel sick.

"Yeah okay." Dom said nodding and she nodded back.

"I'll be back in a little while."

"Okay." He said and she left, walking to her car, she looked at Vince on her way past and he wouldn't meet her eyes. She glanced at Brian and quickly looked away, digging her keys out and getting into the car, carefully easing out of the garage and driving down the street.

After getting what she needed she drove back to the house and parked, getting out and running up the front steps, opening the front door and finding Mia pacing in the living room.

"You got it?" she asked and Angela handed her the box. Mia ran up the stairs with it to the bathroom. Angela followed her and leaned against the wall next to the bathroom door. The door opened and Mia came out. "The box says that it takes fifteen minutes for it to you know...work."

"Okay." Angela said nodding and there was a pause.

"Has it been fifteen minutes yet?"

"It hasn't even been two."

"Damnit." Mia leaned against the wall and slid down, sitting on the floor with her knees bent and her arms resting on them, her head hung. Angela sat down next to her and put her arms around her shoulders, hugging her. "What if I'm pregnant? I want kids, but not now. I want to finish med school, get married, _then_ have kids." Angela just nodded against her hair. "I don't even know if Brian wants kids, I mean I know that he'll be a great dad, but still."

"If you are, are you gonna keep the baby?"

"I don't believe in abortion." Mia said and Angela nodded again. She started to hum one of her favorite songs. "You sing right?"

"Yeah."

"Could you sing to me?"

"What would you like me to sing?"

"Anything, you pick." She said and she nodded, taking a deep breath and starting to sing.

"I waited until I saw the sun, don't know why I didn't come. I left you by the house of fun, I don't know why I didn't come, I don't know why I didn't come. When I saw the break of day, I wished that I could fly away. Instead of kneeling in the sand, catching teardrops in my hand..." she sang and Mia leaned against her, soothed by the sound of her voice. When she was done, Mia had her sing another one, making her laugh when she started singing Broken Heartsville by Joe Nichols. She finished and looked down at Mia who was still leaning against her. "It's been fifteen minutes."

"It has?" she asked, looking at her.

"Yup." Mia got off the floor and went into the bathroom.


	5. V

"Angela?" Mia asked and Angela went into the bathroom. "Negative. I'm not pregnant. So you can stop stressing now." She said throwing the box away and wrapping the test in toilet paper. Angela hugged her. "Some part of me is sad that I'm not pregnant."

"Now you can wait until you get out of school and get married to have kids." Angela said and felt Mia nod against her.

"I am _so_ going on birth control now." Mia said.

"Probably a good idea. Now I better get back before Dom comes looking for me." She said and pulled away.

"What's going on between you and my brother?" Mia asked narrowing her eyes at her.

"You know Brian asked me the same thing."

"He did?"

"Yup. I'll tell you what you what I told him. I think that Dom's just trying to make me feel welcome."

"What did Brian say?"

"He said that it's more than that. But you know when you called and I sounded spooked?"

"Yeah, what happened?"

"Vince kissed me." She said and Mia's eyes went wide.

"_He_ _kissed you? _" she hissed and Angela nodded. "And did you...kiss back?"

"No! I mean it shocked the hell outta me, and besides I don't like V like that. And Leon..."

"Oh god what did Le do?"

"Asked me to the movies."

"On like a date?"

"I don't know, it sounded like it. I don't understand though."

"Don't understand what?"

"Why Vince kissed me, why Leon asked me out."

"You really don't see it do you?"

"See what?"

"Turn around and look at yourself in the mirror." Mia ordered and she did, looking at her reflection in the mirror over the sink.

"Okay, what?"

"You're beautiful."

"No I'm not."

"Yeah you are."

"I have big lips."

"You have _Angelina Jolie _lips. And guys really seem to like her lips." Mia said and Angela snorted.

"That and other things."

"I know right? Anyway, you're beautiful, and if you haven't realized this by now, guys have noticed, like the guys at the street race."

"So _that's_ why Dom had his arm around me and was my shadow."

"Yeah, he's letting every guy there know that you're his girl."

"But I'm not his girl."

"You might want to tell him that." Mia said. "Now you better get going."

"Yup."

"Come on, I'll walk you to the door." They left the bathroom and went downstairs to the front door, opening it. "See ya girl."

"Bye Mia." Angela left the house and walked down the steps, hearing the front door close behind her. She got into her car and drove back to the garage, easing it back in again. Dom came over as she got out.

"You were gone for a while." Dom said and she shrugged.

"Only about a half an hour."

"Is Mia okay?"

"Yeah she's probably got the flu or something."

"Okay. Can I talk to you in my office?"

"Um sure." Angela said and followed Dom back into his office. He closed the door behind her and had her take a seat in front of his desk.

"Vince told me that he kissed you." He said as he sat down behind his desk.

"Why would he tell you that?"

"He felt bad about it, he said that you seemed shocked. He asked me to apologize, said he wouldn't be able to do it himself."

"Why not?"

"V's not very good at apologizing."

"Oh. Well tell him 'apology accepted'."

"I'll be sure to do that."

"Uh Dom?"

"Yeah?"

"Have any of the guys talked to you about me?"

"No, why?"

"Because so far both Brian and Mia think that something's going on between us." She said and his eyebrow perked.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"And what did you tell them?"

"That nothing was."

"But..."

"But I don't think they believed me."

"They probably didn't."

"Why?"

"Because they know me and how I am around a beautiful woman." Dom said and Angela blushed making him laugh.

"What're you laughing at Dominic?" she asked, a furrow between her brows.

"You look so _cute_ when you blush." He said and she scowled at him, her blush dissipating

"I do not." She said and he laughed.

"Yes you do, like a little girl."

"_A little girl? _" she asked indignantly, getting up from the chair. She went to leave but his voice stopped her.

"Angela." He had rarely if ever used her full name since she had met him and told him her nickname. She didn't turn around, not even when she heard him get up from his chair and walk up behind her. His hands settled on her waist and only then did she turn around, looking up at him.

"Dom..." she said and he reached up and gently ran his fingertips along her jaw and down her neck, they trailed over her collarbone and he grabbed her shoulders, kneading the skin. He stepping closer to her and she tilted her face up to him, her lips parting. He leaned down and she licked her lips, her eyes fixed on his. Their lips were a hairs breadth apart when he turned his head away.

"I can't, we can't, you're too young." Dom said, but he didn't let go of her shoulders.

"I'm legal Dom. Its not like I'm sixteen or seventeen, I'm eighteen."

"I know, but when I'm going on my thirty-second next month it's a big deal."

"You'll be thirty-two?" she asked and Dom nodded. "I woulda figured early to mid twenties, but early thirties?" she looked at him, really looked at him, seeing the little wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and the faint stress lines around his mouth.

"I'm flattered that you thought I was so young, but I'm not. You see why we can't?"

"Yes." Angela said nodding and she stepped into him, wrapping her arms around his slender waist. He sighed heavily and put his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head. "I would have kissed back." she said against his chest.

"I know." Dom said and she pulled away.

"So how we doin on the car?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"I got the parts ordered, they should be in tomorrow."

"Okay. Is there anything you want me to do?"

"Nope, you can go on back to the fort." Dom said and she nodded.

"Okay. You gonna stay here or..."

"I got a couple things to do here."

"Okay, see ya cue ball." She said smiling and leaving the office. He heard her car leave the garage and he sat down behind his desk, putting his head in his hands.

Angela parked in the driveway and got out, going into the house and going straight up to her room, jumping face down onto the bed, hugging the pillow to her chest, half of her face covered by it.

"Angel?" she looked over and saw Mia standing in the doorway. "What're you doin home early? Dom cut you loose?" she asked and Angela nodded against her pillow. "Is anything wrong?" she hesitated but shook her head. "Liar. Did Vince do something again?" she shook her head, "Leon?" another head shake. "Did Dom?" she nodded. "What happened?" she asked and Angela said something, muffled against the pillow. "Huh?" she took her face out of the pillow.

"We almost kissed." She said again and Mia walked over, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"What do you mean almost?"

"We were about to, but he stopped and said that we couldn't because I was too young."

"Oh."

"Mia? Is he really turning thirty-two next month?" she asked and Mia nodded. Angela groaned and put her face into her pillow, all of it this time. She turned onto her back and raised her fist to the ceiling. "Damn you Fates! Why can't you just cut my thread already?" she asked the ceiling.

"Huh?" Mia asked, confused.

"In Greek mythology there were the Fates, the keepers of all mankind. A female child, a young woman, and an old woman."

"The maiden, the mother, and the crone."

"Exactly. They had this giant loom that they worked on of different color threads, every thread was a persons life, intersecting with other people. Every time they cut a thread or the threat became severed somehow, the person died." Angela said and looked back up at the ceiling. "So one of you cut my thread already!" she grabbed her pillow and put it over her face.

"Hey." Mia said putting her hand on her arm. "Dom's doing this to protect you, you know. He really cares about you." Angela lowered the pillow.

"After two days?"

"Sometimes it happens that fast." She said and Angela groaned again.

Dom sat in his office for a long while. His mind went back to when Vince told him that he had kissed her.

"_Dom?" Angela had just left his office, saying that she needed to get something for Mia. Dom looked up and saw Vince standing in the doorway._

_"Yeah what is it V?" he asked and noticed how nervous his friend looked. "Vince, what is it?"_

_"Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked._

_"Sure, come in, close the door." He said and he did, closing the door behind him. "Have a seat."_

_"I'll stand."_

_"Okay." Dom said and looked down at the papers on his desk, stood and went to the filing cabinet against one wall to get a calculator. "What did you want to talk to me about?"_

_"I did something stupid."_

_"Whenever have you ever _not_ done something stupid?" Dom asked, smirking._

_"Very funny jackass." Vince said and Dom chuckled. "But this was _very_ stupid."_

_"Just tell me already."_

_"It involves Angel." He said and Dom stopped what he was doing, his whole body freezing._

_"What did you do?" he asked but Vince was silent. "What did you do?"_

_"I kissed her." Vince said and saw Dom's entire body tense, his massive arms flexing and a muscle in his jaw quivering and he knew those signs, Dom was pissed off. "Listen Dom, she didn't kiss back." He said and the pencil Dom had been twirling in his fingers snapped in half. Dom set the pieces down and looked at him. Vince thought about bolting when he saw the rage in his eyes._

"You kissed her. Even after I told you this morning how much I cared about her, how much I wanted her. You kissed her."

_"Yeah Dom I kissed her." Vince said closing his eyes, so he didn't have to see the betrayed look that was now in his best friends' eyes._

_"You said that she didn't kiss back."_

_"No, she didn't."_

_"What did she do?"_

_"She pushed me away."_

_"So she didn't want the kiss."_

_"No, I knew that but I kissed her anyway." Vince said and opened his eyes as Dom walked closer; he took a step back._

_"Calm down V, I'm not lookin to go back to Lompoc." Dom said and Vince sighed. All the tension seemed to drain from Dom's body, a small smile coming to his face._

_"Dom could you...when she comes back can you..."_

_"Apologize for you?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"Yeah V, I'll tell her you're sorry."_

_"Thanks man." Vince said and went to leave._

_"And V?" he stopped and looked at Dom over his shoulder. "I never would have expected this from you. Leon maybe, but not you."_

_"Dom, I'm..."_

_"I know." Dom said and Vince left, closing the door behind him._

Dom sighed and went back to work, trying to keep his mind off of it, off of _her_.

Angela was in her room reading when the guys got home. There was a knock on her door and she set her book down, getting up and opened the door, seeing Mia outside.

"Hey. What's up?"

"Dinner time, guys ordered pizza and V got a movie."

"What movie?" Angela asked as she left her room and closed the door.

"Triple X." Mia said smiling.

"Awesome, Vin Diesel is _so_ hot." Angela said smiling back and they walked down the stairs, finding the guys already in the darkened living room. They got some pizza and lounged on the floor since the guys had taken up all the room on the couch and chairs. Angela had chosen to sit down in front of Leon who was sitting on the couch, her back against his legs and she noticed Dom shooting glances at them every once in a while. He started the movie and they all watched, making fun of the agent in the beginning.

"A tux! They always wear a tux!" Leon said and they laughed.

"Just because the villain's loaded doesn't mean he's gonna be hosting fancy parties." Angela said when the agent entered the building and saw the Rammstein concert. "Dork."

"Well of course you see him! It'd be pretty hard to miss him!" Dom said.

"Will you three shut up? I'm trying to watch the movie." Vince said glumly and they laughed again, but didn't say anything after that.

The movie was over and they were picking up the plates and cups.

"Oh come on guys!" Dom said as Mia called him 'Xander'. "He looked nothing like me!"

"Exactly like you." Angela said and he looked at her.

"He did not! And besides, the actors name? Vin Diesel? What kind of name _is_ that?" he asked.

"Mia, I think next time we should watch Pitch Black." Angela said turning to her.

"Why?"

"Guess who stars in it?"

"Who?" Mia asked.

"Vin Diesel." Leon said and they laughed.

"Will you guys knock it off!" Dom said.

"Yeah, okay...X." Vince said and they laughed again. Dom huffed and stomped upstairs, his room door slamming close.

"Come on Brian, you're gonna help me with dishes." Mia said.

"No it's okay Mia. Leon and I will do them. Ain't that right le?" Angela said, taking the dishes from her.

"Hey I never said that I would...!" Leon started but Angela grabbed the front of his jersey and dragged him into the kitchen,

"Thanks Angel!" Mia yelled after them.

"No prob Mia! Angela yelled back. Leon came sulkily out of the kitchen and took the cups from Brian, dragging his feet on his way back into the kitchen, pouting. Mia and Brian exchanged a look and went upstairs; Vince went up to his room a short time later.

"Oh cheer up Le. You and I are about to get all wet and soapy." Angela said.

"Well when you put it that way." Leon said grinning and she giggled, making him chuckle.

They were just finishing up with the dishes when Leon splashed her with water, hitting her in the chest. She splashed him back and soon water was flying everywhere as they each tried to soak each other. She grabbed the hose and aimed.

"Whoa girl calm down." Leon said holding up his hands and smiling. She winked at him and he relaxed, but then she sprayed him drenching him. He sputtered and shook water out of his eyes. She laughed but then saw the murderous glare he was giving her.

"Oh shit." she said and dropped the hose, running for her life. He tackled her onto the couch and she poked him hard in the ribs.

"Ow!" he exclaimed and she escaped, running again, but he knew this house better than she did and he cut her off as she tried to escape through the kitchen. He picked her up around the waist and set her seated on the sink counter. Reaching up he grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her head back, his lips going in for the attack on her throat, his teeth gently nipping at her skin. Leon wrapped her legs around his waist and picked her up, turning and pressing her back against the wall, his lips still locked onto her throat. Her fingers laced into his hair and he pulled back, looking up at her.

"Leon I can't." she said and confusion entered his eyes.

"Why?"

"Because..."

"Of Dom." He finished and her legs came from around his waist, her feet landing softly on the tile.

"You're really nice and I like you a lot but if we do this, I'll hate myself." She said and he moved a lock of hair out of her eyes, tucking it behind her ear.

"Why?"

"I just know that somehow I'll feel as if I betrayed him. I'm sorry Leon." She genuinely looked sorry.

"Don't apologize baby-girl. You didn't do anything wrong." Leon said and walked away, going down into his bedroom in the basement. Angela stayed in the kitchen for a little while before going upstairs, brushing her teeth and going to bed, curling up into a ball on her sheets.


	6. VI

In the middle of the night Dom walked downstairs in his boxers to the kitchen, but stopped at the sight before him. The refrigerator door was open, casting a beam of light into the dark kitchen and a very pale, long, smooth leg was extended out into the air as if for balance. Sneaking up quietly, he ran his hand along that leg and heard the person squeak in surprise. The leg lowered and Angela straightened, looking at him.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked and she nodded. He reached over and clicked on the light, the door closed and she took the cap off of a water bottle, bringing it to her lips and drinking deeply. The bottle lowered and she offered it to him. "Thanks." He said and took it from her, their fingers brushing together slightly. Dom drained the bottle and tossed it in the recycle bin. They just stared at each other in the silence.

Angela looked at him as he stood in the kitchen in his boxers. He was more built than she pictured, having only seen the way a shirt clung to his chest, the cuffs of the sleeves tight around biceps. But now seeing him with his shirt off she realized just how much she didn't see.

His shoulders were powerful and broad, corded with muscle even in his relaxed state. His tree-trunk arms had defined biceps and powerful forearms. His hands were large with long masculine fingers, callused and scarred from heavy work.

He had a barrel chest, broad and powerful, his stomach flat, with the faint impression of cut abs. His waist was tapered and his black boxers hung low on slender hips, the fabric falling loosely around muscular thighs.

The overhead lights gleamed off of his smooth shaven scalp. He wasn't traditionally handsome like Leon, nor was he a pretty boy like Brian. But he _was_ handsome with his expressive chocolate brown eyes, a nose that was large but was in proportion with the rest of his body and sensuous lips, the bottom lip full. With this and his dusky skin, he possessed some kind of animal attraction, animal magnetism. He was the reincarnation of Adonis. The definition of male perfection and beauty.

Dom studied Angela as she stood in the kitchen. She looked innocent and vulnerable in her tri-colored pajama shorts and black tank top, and that vulnerable innocence appealed to him. Her light brown hair was loose around her body, framing it in soft waves. Her body was slim, but with wide hips and a narrow waist, an hourglass figure it was called. Full breasts and prefect collarbone leading to delicate shoulders and long slender arms. Her hands were small with long, elegant fingers.

She had long shapely legs and her skin was so pale it was ethereal. Her lips were full and sensual, but her eyes are what had attracted to him in the first place. Such a delicate pale green color with traces of sky blue around the edges and long thick eyelashes framed them. She truly was an Angel.

They started walking toward each other at the same time and they each reached out a hand, their fingers lacing together, bringing them closer together. She suddenly had her arms around his waist and her head was resting against his chest. Dom sighed and encased her in his arms, his eyes closing lazily. It felt so good to hold her, to feel her skin against his, to see that beautiful contrast.

He pushed her away slightly and she looked up at him with those beautiful pale green eyes. Reaching up, he brushed his knuckles along her delicate cheekbone and her eyes closed, her face moving into his hand.

"Open your eyes my Angel." He whispered and she did, looking into his. "I want you, but I can't have you, and it's killing me. You need to be with someone closer to your own age. You should be with Leon."

"I don't want to be with Leon, I don't want Leon. I want you." She said cradling his face in her hands. She pulled his head down and their lips collided.

Dom groaned as they kissed, loving the way she tasted. Their lips moved perfectly together, both giving and taking. Her arms came around his neck and he wrapped his arms around her waist, picking her up off her feet. He wanted to spin her around and never let her go, never ever let her go. But he had to, this wasn't right. He set her down and pushed away from her and out of her arms, fleeing back to his room and leaving her standing in the kitchen, gasping for air.

Dom closed the door to his room behind him and collapsed on his bed, breathing heavily. Already he missed the warmth of her soft body against his hard one. The muscles in his arms quivered, wanting to hold her again, his hands shaking, yearning to be buried in her hair. But that could never happen again.

He cradled his pillow to his chest and buried his face into it. He fell back to sleep only when he pictured Angela in his arms, lying on his bed pressed against him instead of his cold lifeless pillow.

Angela lay shakily back onto her bed after stopping at Dom's room and hearing his deep, even breathing telling her that he was asleep. But for her, sleep was a long time coming,

Dom walked down the stairs the next morning fully dressed seeing the team lounged in the living room, watching Saturday morning cartoons. But there was someone missing from the team, someone who was usually up before them.

"Where's Angel?" he asked and they looked at him, shrugging in unison.

"Probably still asleep. Could you go wake her up? We have to be at the store by ten." Mia said yawning. He went back upstairs and stopped outside her room. Easing the door open quietly he watched her as she slept. She was curled up with her knees drawn to her chest, her head lying on her arm. Her mouth was open slightly and her face was blank, giving her the look of perfect innocence. She rolled over onto her other side, stretching out.

He went to the side of her bed and knelt down, he traced her jawline with his fingertips and her eyes fluttered open, focusing on him. Their eyes locked for several moments before he stood, looking down at her.

"Mia asked me to wake you up, you two need to be at the store at ten." He said and she nodded.

"Okay." She said and got up, swinging her legs over the opposite side of the bed and leaving the room. Dom stood there for a little while and looked around. She hadn't unpacked; all of her clothes were still in her duffel bag.

Angela showered, scrubbing her hair and body clean. She rinsed and got out, wrapping herself in a towel and drying off, combing through her hair. She went back to her room, Dom now gone, and closed the door, getting dressed in jeans and another tank top. Putting her sneakers on and towel drying her hair, running a brush through it, she left her room and went downstairs.

"Where's Dom?" a fully dressed Mia asked and Angela shrugged.

"He didn't come back down?"

"Nope."

"Then I dunno."

"He'll show up eventually. Come on, let's go." Mia said. "Leave the keys to your car so they guys can take it to the garage, the parts should be in today and we can take my car."

"Okay." Angela said and left her keys on one of the hooks by the door. They left the house after saying goodbye to the guys and got into Mia's car, driving away. When they were gone Vince went upstairs and to Dom's room, opening the door and finding him lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"Is she gone?" he asked.

"Yeah, she and Mia left a little while ago." Vince said and Dom groaned, scrubbing his face with his hands.

"How's things with Dom?" Mia asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say sometimes I get a midnight snack." Mia asked and glanced over at her, seeing her looking at her with wide eyes. "Yeah I saw you two."

"Its nothing, it was nothing."

"Didn't look like nothing."

"It was just a kiss. Nothing more."

"Just a kiss, right."

"Mia, the thing with Dom is something I don't want to talk about." Angela said looking out the window. Mia was thankfully silent.

Leon backed Angela's car into the garage and turning off the engine, getting out.

"Okay most of the parts came in this morning. Now even though I said that Angel would be doing the actual work, obviously she ain't here so we're gonna start on it." Dom said. "First off we need to get the engine out to work on it, Vince, Leon that's what you guys are gonna do along with fuel intake, do as much as you can with what we have so far." He said and they nodded, going to the car and lifting the hood, getting to work. "O'Connor, you and I are gonna work on electrical and we gotta sand the outside down, get this paint off."

"Got it Dom." Brian said and they set to work.

Angela was flipping through a car magazine when a guy sat down at the counter. She looked at him and gave him her best professional smile.

"Hi! What can I get you?" she asked going over to him and the guy gave her a once over.

"How about your number and when you get offa work?" he asked and she appeared to be thinking it over, her smile gone.

"Sorry that's not on the menu." She said and he grinned.

"Then how about you and I go into that back room and..."

"But I can recommend the tuna fish sandwich."

"Is it any good?"

"The best." She said smiling and he nodded.

"Then I'll have that." He said and she went to go make it, Mia came out of the supply room with more soda and dropped the box behind the counter, crouching down to load up the small fridge under the counter. Angela stepped around her and set the plate down in front of the guy, going back to her magazine. Mia straightened and went to her side.

"What he order?" she asked quietly.

"My phone number." Angela said just as quietly and she snorted.

"Whatcha give him?" she asked and saw Angela's evil grin.

"The tuna."

"Now you're just cruel." Mia said smiling.

"I know, but I make it an art form." She said winking and Mia snorted again. The guy finished and laid a couple bills on the counter, a grimace on his face. When he was outside he spit onto the ground and they laughed. He stopped and looked at them, realizing what she did.

"Bitch!" he yelled.

"You have no idea!" Angela yelled back and Mia laughed harder. He started to walk back up to the diner when the teams' cars pulled up. Dom got out of his and when he saw the look on the guys' face, he stopped him.

"Where you goin?" he asked and the guy looked past him and at Angela, Dom looked over his shoulder at her and then back at him. "What she do?"

"She tricked me into eating the nastiest sandwich in the world, said it was the best."

"The tuna?"

"Yeah." the guy said and the team laughed.

"What you do?"

"Asked for her phone number and you know...a little somethin. Come on guy, with a body like that, you know she's a slut, she probably gives it away." He said and Dom's fist slammed into his jaw knocking him to the ground. He went after him again but Vince and Leon grabbed his arms, pulling him back. Dom shook them off and attacked the guy, punching him over and over again.

"Don't you talk about her like that!" he roared and the guys grabbed at him again, and again Dom shook them off.

"Dom!" he heard and stopped, looking back and seeing Angela walk out of the store and into the sun. "Stop!" she said and he did, standing and giving the guy a good kick in the ribs before walking towards her. The boys picked the guy up, bruised, battered, and bleeding as he was and shoved him towards the only other car there besides Mia's and theirs.

"Get outta here! And if you call the cops, we'll come after you!" Vince said and the guy gave them all murderous glares, spitting blood outta his mouth and getting into his car, driving away.

Dom looked down at her, his hand raising to touch her cheek lightly.

"I'm sorry I just couldn't stand him talking about you like that." He whispered and she nodded, taking his large hand in her small ones.

"Dom I can take care of myself."

"I know that, it's just that when he said that about you, I just couldn't stop myself."

"Okay, it's alright." She said and looked down at his hand in hers. The knuckles were bruised and split, flecked with blood that she knew wasn't his, at least partly. "Lets go get some ice on this hand."

"No, its okay, my hand's fine." He said and tried to clench it but grimacing in pain.

"It's not fine. Now come on." she pulled him into the diner and grabbed ice from behind the counter, a small bucket of it was kept in the small fridge. She wrapped it in a clean cloth and placed it gently on Dom's hand over his knuckles, wincing slightly when he hissed in pain.

"You act like you've done this before." He said and she looked up at him.

"You have no idea how many times I've had to patch my brother up because he came home after getting jumped."

"Everyone just loves him." Dom said sarcastically and she chuckled. They were then aware of the team looking at them; they looked over and saw them.

"What?" they asked in unison and the team looked away, Mia had a small smile on her face.

"Stop smiling Mia." Angela said but her smile grew. She did her best to ignore her and looked back up at Dom, he leaned in closer.

"I think they know something we don't." he whispered.

"They already know we're attracted to each other." Angela whispered back.

"But I think they figured something else out too."

"Ya think they'll fill us in?" she asked and he looked at them then back at her, shaking his head.

"Not a chance." He said and she eased the cloth off, looking at his hand. "What's the diagnosis doctor?" he asked raising his voice back up to normal speaking level and she snorted.

"The swellings gone down." She said doing the same. "But we'll have to bandage it up and wash this blood off."

"The first aid stuff here is just small Band-Aids, we'll have to go back to the house."

"Right now?"

"Sure, why not."

"Okay." Angela said.

"Brian, take over Angela's spot until we get back."

"Okay." Brian said and hopped over the counter, kissing Mia on the cheek. Dom and Angela left the store, getting into his car and driving away.  
The trip back to the house was spent in silence. Angela staring out the window and leaned against the door, Dom's eyes were fixed on the road, trying to ignore the throbbing in his hand.

The got to the house and went inside, going up to the bathroom. Dom got out Neosporin and bandages and Angela took them from him. She wet a cloth and gently washed away the blood and dirt, patting it dry with a soft towel. She pressed him back against the sink as she took one of the cotton padding bandages and spread Neosporin on it, taking his hand and gently putting it on his knuckles, taking the surgical tape and securing it. She made him clench and unclench his hand to make sure it would stay.

"There, you're all set." She said.

"Kiss it and make it feel better?" Dom asked innocently and she snorted, but laid a tender kiss on the bandage.

"Dom about last night..."

"Nothing to talk about." He said as started to put away the supplies.

"We kissed."

"So what? It was no big deal." He said, not daring to make eye contact. _It was a big deal my Angel._ He thought.

"Well from my point of view, to a virgin, a kiss like that _is_ a bid deal." She said and he looked at her with a laugh.

"Who ever said I was a holy shit you're not talking about me." His laughter died instantly.

"Most of the guys back home were like the poster children for inbreeding. And those who were semi-attractive were complete assholes. So I think its safe to say that my grand total of all kinds of sexual encounters is zero."

"You're a virgin."

"That's what that means yeah." She said crossing her arms over her stomach. "And I'd be happy if you didn't tell anyone."

"Why?"

"Because some guys may see that info as an invitation, and I really don't want to deal with that."

"Your secret's safe with me." Dom said and she nodded.

"Thank you, now lets get back to the store before the team starts to think that we're doing something else besides getting first-aid for you."

"Yeah that wouldn't be a good thing, huh?" he asked looking at her and scratching the back of his head. She snorted and smiled.

"Naw, not really." She said and he smiled. They left the bathroom and went back to his car, driving back to the store.


	7. VII

The next day none of them had work since they closed the garage and store on Sundays. Angela and Mia were in her room, Mia looking for Angela's bathing suit in her duffel bag.

"Girl you are too damn pale and need some sun. Now where the hell is your bathing suit?" she asked.

"I don't have one." Angela said and Mia looked at her.

"_You don't have one?"_ she asked and Angela nodded. Mia took her hand and pulled her off the bed and towards the door. She dragged her down the stairs and out the door. The guys were outside washing the cars; they were all shirtless because of the heat. Angela perked her eye seeing Dom's glistening chest and looked away when he met her eyes, a bright red flush coming to her cheeks. Mia let go of her hand and bounced over to Brian, kissing his cheek. "Angel and I are going shopping, she doesn't have bathing suit." Mia said and he looked at her.

"Okay, have fun." He said and they kissed.

"Always do." She said as she pulled back. "Damn you're sexy." She said and they kissed again. "Okay, I have to go now, Angel looks like she's about to run back into the house now that I'm distracted." She said and he chuckled. Mia bounced back over to Angela and grabbed her hand again; pulling her to her car and making her get in. Mia got in the drivers seat and started the engine, Maria's song I Give You Take coming out of the speakers at full blast.

"Angel is a light bulb in the sun." Leon said as Mia and Angela drove away.

"She's so pale." Vince said.

"Yeah but since her dad is Italian, she tans up real nice." Dom said as he rinsed off the hood of his car with the hose and they looked at him.

"How you know her dad's Italian?" Leon asked.

"Remember that night her brother crashed the party after the race?" he asked and they nodded. "Well when they went outside I followed them and heard them arguing in fluent Italian. When I asked her about it she said her dad was Italian and that she took classes in Middle School and High School."

"Wow, can't wait to see how she looks tan." Vince said and they all chuckled.

"I can't wait to see what her bathing suit will be." Dom said and they chuckled again.

"I can't wait to see how she'll look in her bathing suit." Leon said, another chuckle.

"I'm not going to say anything because Mia will find out, somehow like she always does, and then she'll kick my ass." Brian said and they laughed.

"Dude you are _so_ whipped." Leon said and they laughed again. Brian smiled an embarassed smile.

"I know, but I think I'll live." He said and they laughed. "I mean, it has its perks."

"Hey." Dom said, his laughter dying and the guys laughed harder.

"Okay Mia, we got me a bathing suit. Can we go now?" Angela asked, a small bag swinging from her wrist.

"We gotta get your hair done."

"No we don't."

"Its all one length, we're gonna get it layered."

"Its fine the way it is." Angela said and groaned as Mia pulled her into a hair salon. In a few minutes time she was plopped down in a chair with an apron thing fastened around her neck, her hair had been washed, conditioned and rinsed, the hair stylist positively gushing about how thick and healthy it was. Mia was standing off to the side, her face in a thoughtful pose, making thoughtful noises every now and then.

"Layer it." she said and the stylist nodded, picking up her scissors and comb. Angela closed her eyes tight..._snip._

The guys had just finished the last car and were putting everything away when Mia's car pulled up. Mia and Angela got out, Mia was all smiles, but Angela looked mad, all of her hair pulled up with a clip.

"Have fun pumpkin?" Leon asked her and she flipped him off making them laugh.

"Angel! You put your hair up again!" Mia said and pulled the clip out of her hair. The guys' eyes widened as Angela's hair, once all one length to her elbows, fell in styled layers to the middle of her upper arms, long bangs framing her face. Her light brown hair shined in the sunlight, revealing strands of gold and blond natural highlights. "Come on, in the few hours we have left of sunlight, we're going to lay out." Mia said and they went into the house.

"Damn." Leon said. Mia and Angela came out a little while later carrying beach towels, Mia in her black halter bikini and Angela in a dark brown strapless one. Angela paid no attention to the guys as she and Mia spread out their towels on the front lawn, laying down on them.

The guys were inside when they came back in. Mia was a couple shades darker and Angela had a golden brown iridescence, her pale eyes almost glowing.

"I think I liked you better pale." Dom said and she shrugged, smiling.

"Give me a couple weeks or however long it takes and I'll be pale again." She said and he nodded, also smiling.

"Geez you two. Get a room." Mia said and they laughed, except for Dom and Angela who just looked away, their smiles falling.

"I'm gonna go take a shower." She mumbled and raced up the stairs. Dom didn't say anything, he just walked away, the back door slamming closed a second later.

"What was that all about?" Vince asked and they shrugged.

When she was done, Angela retreated into her room and lay down on her bed, still wrapped in the towel. She stared up at the ceiling, but soon her eyelids started to droop and she dropped off. What seemed like minutes later, someone was knocking on her door.

"Who is it?" she asked groggily.

"Its Mia. Can I come in?"

"Yeah hold on a second." She pulled on her pajamas and got under her sheets. "Come in!" her door opened and Mia entered, closing it behind her. "What's up Mia?"

"Umm..."

"Just say it."

"For as long as you've been up here, Dom's been outside."

"Okay."

"It's kinda chilly out there and he's just wearing a tank top."

"Okay."

"He's just sitting out there. We've tried to get him to come inside but he keeps saying he's fine. Maybe if you talked to him, he would come back inside. I wouldn't want him to get sick."

"I'm probably the _last_ person that should talk to him."

"Is it because of what happened between you two in the kitchen?"

"For the most part, yeah, I mean there are other factors but...you know."

"Please Angel?" Mia asked and she sighed.

"Okay, just let me grab a different shirt and pair of pants and I'll be down in a second."

"Okay, thank you."

"No prob." Angela said and Mia left, she got out of bed and got changed into a tank top and a pair of jeans, brushing her hair and going barefoot downstairs and out the back door. Dom was sitting on the picnic table, his arms around himself for warmth. She went over and sat next to him he looked at her briefly then away.

"What're you doin out here?"

"Mia sent me to try to get you to come back inside."

"I told them I was fine."

"Its cold out here." She said and he looked at her again, seeing what she was wearing.

"Why the hell didn't you wear a sweater? You'll freeze out here." He started to rub her arms in effort to warm her up and she looked at him, her eyebrow perking. He stopped and relaxed. "Point taken."

"Come on Dom, let's go back inside."

"You go on ahead."

"Nope, I won't go until you do."

"Its cold out here."

"Then I'll freeze, right along side with you."

"Go inside Angel."

"No. Not until you do. I mean I'd carry you if I could, but I think you'd give me a hernia." He chuckled.

"I could always carry _you_ inside."

"True but then if you came back out here, I'd follow you back out and if you did it again...well you get the idea."

"You're very stubborn."

"Yeah, I am."

"So you're gonna stay out here with me, until I go back inside."

"All night if I have to, get hypothermia and a bad head cold in the process, but either way I win."

"How do you figure?"

"You gotta go in sometime." He chuckled again.

"True."

The team crowded by the windows facing the backyard, looking out at the two.

"Its looks like they're just talking." Mia said and they watched as Dom put his arm around Angela's shoulders, his hand rubbing her arm.

"Then why did he put his arm around her shoulder?" Vince asked.

"Warm her up."

"And why does she have her head on his shoulder?"

"Shared body heat. I don't think they're coming inside any time soon, so lets stop spying on them." she said and they went back into the living room.

"Ya wanna tell me what this is all about?" Angela asked.

"What, what is all about?" Dom replied.

"This isolation."

"I can't want to be alone sometimes?"

"I'm the teenager, I'm supposed to be the moody one, not you."

"Well since you aren't, someone's gotta pick up the slack."

"But why you? Vince I'd understand, he seems like the moody type. But not you."

"Yeah and what do I seem like?"

"You're the level-headed one. The one all the others come to for support and guidance, the leader and anchor. The dad of the group."

"Mia would be the mom?"

"Yup, Vince the moody teenager and Leon the little kid."

"Where do you fit into this family image?"

"That's the thing, I don't. You all have this history together I'm the new girl who doesn't belong."

"You belong."

"No Dom I don't."

"Yes Angel you do."

"Dom if I never came to LA then nothing would have changed. Or if I were to leave tomorrow, there would be no big dent. There was when Letty left and when Jesse died, they were a part of this family, I'm not."

"That's not true."

"Yes Dominic, it is. I'm a friend, not a part of this family. But we aren't talking about me right now, we're talking about you."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Yes there is."

"Okay what is there to talk about?"

"What you feel about me."

"That's lust."

"Then why is it that every time I touch you, or you hold me in your arms all the tension goes out of your body and you look peaceful?" she asked but he stayed silent. "Okay, let me ask you this. If Letty showed up tomorrow, wanting to be back together with you, what would you do?"

"I don't know, I loved...love Letty."

"Okay, I'm going to ask you again. This time don't think, just say the first answer that comes to you. If Letty showed up, would you get back together with her?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"She broke my heart. I loved her more than anything, and she crushed me."

"Okay." Angela said.

"Tell me about your father, you said he wasn't in the picture anymore."

"That's right."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. One day Angelo and I got home from school and he wasn't there. His clothes were gone, mom said that he just split."

"Have you heard anything from him?"

"Nope."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing. Not one letter, phone call, nothing."

"Ya ever thought about finding him?"

"Why should I? He obviously doesn't care if I'm alive or dead, why should I care if he is?"

"Good point. Okay how about this. What if he showed up at the diner, or at the garage, what would you do?"

"Now I see where this is going."

"Angel."

"I don't know Dom. It's been over ten years since I last saw him. I don't know what I'd do. That's all I'm going to say on the subject." She said and got off the table, holding her hand out to him. "Come on, lets go back inside before we both get sick." He nodded and took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers and got off the table, allowing her to lead him inside.

"You two okay?" Brian asked when they got into the living room.

"Yeah, we're fine." Angela said looking at Dom and sat in the love seat, her legs brought up against her chest. Dom sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders, rubbing her chilled arm with his hand.

Angela rested against his side, his warmth seeping through her shirt and into her side making her shudder as her muscles relaxed from the temperature change. His hand stopped then his thumb started to stroke her shoulder gently as they watched TV with the team.

The next morning, Angela was once again awake before all of the team. She made coffee and went back upstairs to take a shower, going back into her room and getting dressed. She toyed with her hair for a little while until she heard the team starting to get up and move around. Dom's usual roaring yawn resonated down the hallway, it always made her smile, reminding her of a large male lion. Finally putting her hair back in a sloppy bun at the base of her neck, she left her room and bounced down the stairs, happier than she's been in while, for some unknown reason.

"Morning." Mia said yawning when she saw her and the guys mumbled something incoherent at her that might have been a greeting in the English language.

"You been up long?" Leon asked through a yawn.

"Since dawn." She said.

"Freak." Vince said and she chuckled.

"Who am I riding with to the garage?" Angela asked and Dom raised his hand. "Okay, as soon as you're ready." She said and left the kitchen, going back up to her room. She jumped onto her bed, sending sheets and covers billowing into the air. Resting her hands behind her head, she was staring up at the ceiling when there was heavy knock on her closed door. "Come in!" the door opened and Dom stepped in, fully dressed with moisture beaded on the skin of his arms. "Ready?"

"Yup." she said and bounced off her bed, tugging her tank top straight and hitching her jeans farther up on her hips. She and Dom walked down the stairs, grabbing his keys on the way out. They left the house, and went to his car, getting in and driving away.

The trip there was silent, neither one trying to make conversation. Dom had his eyes on the road and Angela was looking out the window as the outside flew by. They pulled up in front of the garage and got out, locking the car.

As soon as Angela got into the garage she immediately started to work on her car while Dom went into his office to do more tedious paperwork. Leon and Vince showed up and they went to work on their own assignments.

Around one in the afternoon, someone grabbed her ankle and rolled her out from under the car.

"What Dom?" she asked and went to roll back under, but he kept possession of her of her ankle. "What!"

"I need to talk to you." He said gruffly and walked away. She rolled her eyes and got up, following him back to his office. She went in and closed the door behind her, leaning back against his desk; his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes fixed on her.

"You needed to talk to me?" she asked when he was silent.

"I needed to talk to you about us."

"What 'us' Dom? There is no 'us'. You keep on acting like you want there to be but the moment I show affection back, you run. Its getting frustrating Dom."

"I'm just trying to protect you."

"Ya have a funny way of showing it. Either ya want to be with me or you don't. Make up your mind, I'm not going to be around forever." Angela said and there was a knock on the office door.

"Yeah?" Dom said and it opened, Vince sticking his head in. "What do you want V?"

"I was looking for Angel." Vince said and she looked at him.

"What is it?" she asked.

"There's a guy out front who wants to see you."

"Did he say who he was?"

"Yeah."

"Who?"

"Your dad."


	8. VIII

"He said he was who?" Angela asked weakly, looking at Dom then back at Vince.

"He said he was your dad." Vince said and her knees gave out. Dom caught her before she hit the floor and eased her into a chair. "Should I tell him to get lost?" he asked.

"No, its okay." Angela said with her head between her knees, taking large gasps of air. She straightened and stood, opening the door and squeezing past Vince, going to the front, reception area, of the garage. There was a man pacing out there. He had brown hair that was close cut to his head but graying at the temples. He was tall and fit despite his evident age. He stopped and looked at her, his eyes were just like hers in shape and color. "Daddy?"

"Angel, god look at you." He said and she heard Dom's heavy stride come up very close behind her. She turned and buried her face in his chest; his arms came around her instantly.

Dom looked at the man in the reception area as he held Angela, her small body shaking against his. The man gave them a defeated look and turned to leave and Angela took her face out of his chest.

"Wait!" she said and he turned back around. Dom took his arms from around her and she stepped away from him. "Where were you all this time? Didn't you care at all if your children were alive or dead?"

"You think I didn't care? I thought about you and your brother every day. I tried calling but your mom had gotten your phone number changed, I wrote but got no replies."

"You didn't write, there were no letters, not one. Not even a birthday card."

"There were tons of them, I wrote them myself." He said, confused and she swore.

"Mom," She said and her father sighed. "She hid them."

"That would be something that your mother would do. Anyway, let me get a good look at my little girl." He said and she smiled, looking down at her feet then back up at him.

"How did you find me?" she asked.

"Angelo, he called me and told me that you worked here."

"I don't want to know how he found that out."

"He also said that you joined a street racing team?" he asked and Angela laughed nervously.

"Uh yeah. In fact," she turned and saw Dom still standing there. "Giovanni, this is Dominic Toretto, he's the uh...leader. Dom, this is Giovanni DiMarco." Angela said and Dom stepped forward so they could shake hands.

"Pleasure to meet to Dominic." Giovanni said as they shook.

"Nice to meet you too Sir." He said and they stepped back and Giovanni smiled.

"Please call me Giovanni, 'sir' makes me sound old." He said and Dom laughed.

"I'll do that." He said nodding.

"Giovanni," Angela spoke up. "You and I need to talk in private." She said and he nodded.

"That we do." He said and Dom touched her arm making her look at him.

"I'll be in my office, call me if you need me." He said meeting her eyes and she nodded.

"Okay." She said and Dom kissed her forehead quickly before walking off. She turned to look at her long-absent father. "Let's talk outside."

"Okay." He said and they walked out of the garage, standing outside in the sunshine.

"Why did you leave?"

"Your mother and I fought a lot towards the end. I didn't really love her sweetheart. We were teenagers when I got her pregnant and I did the noble thing and married her, but after you and your brother were born we started to fight more and more. We each had our own little affairs, and I fell in love with the woman I was with. I told your mother and she became enraged, threatening to kill the woman. So I left and filed for divorce." Giovanni admitted.

"Why didn't you take Angelo and I with you?"

"I wanted to so badly, but your mother had put a restraining order out on me. I couldn't come within a hundred yards of you. I thought about just taking you guys from school and getting out of state, but I just couldn't do that to you guys. We'd always be running. I thought about you two everyday. Even when I married the woman I had fallen in love with and had children with her."

"You got remarried and had children?" Angela asked, shocked.

"Yeah I did."

"Are they here?"

"Maria and the kids are out in the car, when I told them who worked here they wanted to meet you."

"I," Angela started and Giovanni interrupted.

"You don't have to, I mean its a lot to take in."

"No I want to meet them." She said quickly and he looked at her, relieved.

"It means a lot to me that you do." He said smiling and she nodded. He raised his hand to his mouth. "Maria! Come on out and bring the kids!" he yelled down the street and a blonde woman got out of a dark green van parked on the street along with two teenagers, both girls, one with dark brown hair, the other with blonde. They walked towards them and stopped when they were in front of them. "Angel, this is Maria and my two girls, Alexandria and Madison."

"Hi." Angela said shyly.

"Hello Angela." Maria said smiling kindly at her.

"Hiya!" Alexandria, the blonde, said smiling joyfully, her blue eyes twinkling.

"Yo." Madison said rather sedately, her green eyes half-lidded, and Angela smiled. "Ooh, who is that?" Madison asked looking behind her and Angela looked over her shoulder and turned when she saw Dom standing at the entrance of the garage, watching them.

"Dominic!" Angela said.

"What?" he answered.

"Will ya stop looming? Damn."

"I'll loom if I want to." He said and she stuck her tongue out at him, making him smile.

"Go back to your office baldy." She said pointing back into the garage and he pointed a finger at her.

"I'll get you for that later." He said but went back inside. Angela turned back around.

"Dominic huh?" Madison asked with a smile.

"Yup."

"He with anyone?"

"Maddie!" Maria said and she looked at her mother.

"What? He's hot!" Madison said in her defense.

"Yeah but he's also in his early thirties." Angela said and Madison looked at her, surprised.

"No shit. Really?" she asked.

"Madison! Language!" Giovanni said.

"Sorry." Madison said. "So he's really in his thirties?"

"Yup, goin on thirty-two next month."

"Damn." Madison said.

"Just out of curiosity. How old are you two?" Angela asked.

"I'm sixteen." Madison said.

"Fourteen." Alexandria said and Angela sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"Giovanni, if I'm doing the math right, that means Maria was pregnant with Madison _before_ you divorced mom, and Madison was three when you did." She said and her dad sighed.

"Yeah she was. And Maria became pregnant with Alex shortly before I left."

"Yeah…anyway." Alexandria said.

"Why don't we leave? Let Angela get back to work?" Giovanni suggested.

"Do you really work here?" Madison asked and Angela nodded.

"What do you do?" Alexandria asked, "I mean are you like the secretary or something?" she asked and Angela made a rude noise.

"Hell no. I work on the cars." She said and Alexandria made a disgusted face.

"But don't you get all smelly and greasy?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Ick!"

"I happen to like getting all smelly and greasy." Angela said defensively.

"Don't even try Angela," Madison said cutting in. "Alex doesn't appreciate cars like we do. All she knows about them is that they go really fast sometimes."

"Maddie loves cars," Giovanni said. "She knows cars inside and out. She must have every book on automotive mechanics there are. She fixes the van whenever it acts up."

"That's because she's a freak." Alexandria said viciously.

"Alex!" Giovanni scolded.

"At least I'm not a stuck up priss like you." Madison said as equally as vicious.

"Maddie!" Maria scolded.

"Why don't I tell your secret to the world Madison! You sneak out every weekend and come back at like 4 in the morning smelling like sweat and exhaust. You go to _street races_!"

"Madison!" both Maria and Giovanni said and Madison's face twisted in fury.

"Well you begged me to take you! I did and you dressed like a friggen whore every single time! Hooked up with some wanna-be racer and disappeared for a half an hour every single time! I have a pretty good guess on what you and all those guys were doing too! You _racer chaser_!"

"I always saw you tucking what must have been tucking 2 grand into your jeans pocket every time I came back. I wonder how you got that? Huh?"

"I raced that's how! Raced and won! A racer I'm friends with let me race with his car and I smoked the opposition!"

"You race? Now you really are trash!" Alexandria said and Madison dove at her but Angela beat her to it and hit her, knocking her to the ground.

"Angela!" Giovanni said.

"Mommy! She hit me!" Alexandria whined, getting up.

"Racers are trash Alexandria? I happen to be a racer! All my friends in LA are racers!" Angela said and Alexandria ran to her mother, throwing her arms around her. Maria looked at Angela enraged.

"How dare you hit my little girl!" she said.

"Do you want to know what a racer chaser is Maria? It's a racing groupie." Angela said and comprehension dawned on Maria's face. "That's right. Your precious little girl has sex with random men just because they racers, or at least say they are." She said and Maria pushed Alexandria away.

"Is this true Alexandria?" Maria asked and Alexandria looked away, giving her the answer. "You are grounded for six months! I'm going schedule an OBGYN appointment and get you checked out. Just pray that you didn't catch anything from those men."

"_Six months!_ But mom!"

"No buts missy!" Maria took her arm and dragged her to the van opening the door and pushing her inside. She slammed the door closed and got in the passenger side. Giovanni was very silent.

"Daddy?" Madison asked, worried.

"Giovanni?" Angela asked, touching his arm.

"I just found out today that of my four children, two are street racers, ones a drug dealer and the other gives her body away to almost complete strangers. I have failed as a father." He said and his two street racing daughters hugged him.

"No you haven't." Madison said against his chest.

"Racing is my passion Giovanni." Angela said on the other side of him.

"Mine too."

"And it's only a misdemeanor."

"And it so much fun. It makes me happy daddy." Madison said.

"It make me happy too." Angela added and his arms came around both of them. He kissed both their heads before pulling away.

"Come on Maddie, we better get going. Angela has to get back to work." Giovanni said.

"Um actually dad, can I stay here?"

"What?"

"I mean Angela is my sister, okay _half_ sister, but still. And besides I bet she can teach me a lot more about cars than those books."

"Are you sure its not just so you can ogle Dominic?" Giovanni asked with a weak smile and she blushed slightly.

"There might be some ogling involved." She admitted and he chuckled. "But Angela works in a _garage_ where they work on _street racing cars_. It'll be a wonderful learning experience for me."

"I don't know, how are you going to get home?"

"Oh I can drive her home." Angela said. "I can't drive my new car right now because it's still being worked on, and my SUV is at the house, but I'm sure one of the team will let me borrow their car."

"See. There ya go." Madison said smiling and Giovanni sighed.

"Okay. I want you home by nine though, okay?"

"Alright. Thanks daddy." Madison said and hugged him.

"Yeah, yeah. Love you Maddie."

"Love you too." Madison said pulling away and Giovanni walked to the van getting in and driving away a short time later. "Hey he didn't say that he…"

"No Madison he didn't say that he loved me. Why should he? You're his daughter, I haven't been for thirteen years."

"But he's your dad."

"He may complete the other half my DNA, but he's not my father." Angela said sullenly and they went back inside. Madison's mood lifted as she saw Angela's car.

"God in heaven." She whispered. "This is yours?"

"Yup. Dom won her in a race and he gave her to me."

"Dom as in Dominic?"

"Yup."

"Wait a second, this is DT Performance, run by Dominic Toretto. The guy I saw earlier, that was _the_ Dominic Toretto?" Madison asked and Angela laughed.

"Yeah that was Dominic Toretto, the Asphalt King."

"Damn. I heard all about him." Madison said and leaned against a metal utility desk while Angela dropped back to the floor, scooting back under the car on the small, wheeled sled. Every once in a while she would call out tool names and Madison would find and give them to her. Leon came over and he looked at Madison curiously.

"And who might you be?" he asked and Angela slid out from under the car.

"Its cool Le, she's my sister." She went to slide back under the car but Leon crouched down down, grabbing her ankle.

"Wouldn't you like to introduce us?"

"Madison this is Leon, Leon this is Madison. Introductions made. Can I have my ankle back now?" she asked and Leon looked up at Madison, keeping a hold of Angela's ankle.

"She said you were her sister?" he asked smiling, seeming to forget about the girl under the car and Madison laughed.

"Half-sister actually, through her dad."

"Oh. So what are you doin here?"

"Leon! Let me go!" Angela said and tried to tug her ankle of his grasp but he held on, looking at her and holding up a finger.

"'Scuse me just one second." He looked back up at Madison for an answer.

"I'm into cars and I just thought I'd spend the rest of the day with Angela since she works in a garage. Be a nice time to get to know her. Is that all right?"

"Its fine with me, don't know about Dom though. Even though he has a soft spot when he comes to Angel. Actually I'm sure it's probably hard." Leon said winking and Madison laughed again.

"Leon!" Angela said, shocked that he would say something like that.

"Oh you know you love it." Leon said looking at her.

"Love what?" Leon and Madison looked up seeing Dom standing there.

"Damn Dom, someone needs to put like a cow bell on you or something." Leon said standing, but putting his foot behind the lip of the sled, keeping Angela from going back under the car making her sigh.

"I hate you Leon." They heard her say and they laughed.

"Who're you?" Dom asked looking at Madison.

"Madison DiMarco. Angela's half-sister." Madison said.

"Ah." Dom said and Leon gave out a startled yell as Angela suddenly pushed hard with her feet and slid back under the car, taking his foot out from underneath him and making him fall face-first onto the floor. Dom winked at Madison before going around the car and grabbing Angela's ankle, pulling her back out again. Leon got to his feet and brushed himself off.

"Oh my god! What is it? Annoy Angela Day?" they laughed and Angela sat up on the sled, slapping Dom's hand away so she could stand.

"Absolutely baby-girl." Dom said and she pointed her finger at him.

"You shut up." She said and looked at Madison. "As you can see Madison, they're all mental and I'm the only sane one."

"You sane? Ha!" Dom said and she stuck her tongue out at him. "That an invitation or a promise?" he asked and she retracted her tongue, blushing profusely and making Madison giggle. Dom put his arm around Angela's shoulders, his hand gently stroking her arm.

"Oh my friends are so not gonna believe _any_ of this." She said.

"Where you go to school?" Angela asked.

"LA High." Madison said and Dom smiled at her.

"What grade you in?" he asked.

"Eleventh."

"Almost done. Ya happy?"

"Dear god yes." Madison said and they laughed. "School is almost out and then its finals and then I'm a senior."

"Awesome." Leon said.

"Okay, we all gotta get back to work." Angela said and pulled away from Dom.

"Actually, since you have your sister here, how about we call it quits for the day? We can swing by the diner and tell Mia what's going on." Dom suggested.

"Why don't you just call her?"

"Nah, we're heading that way anyway. So how about it?"

"Sure, we can all head back to the fort and hang out." Angela said and Dom nodded.

"Awesome," Leon said. "I'll go tell V." he walked off into the garage.

"V?" Madison asked.

"Vince." Dom said. "Madison why don't you go wait by my car? Its is the red RX-7." He said and she nodded, walking away to the front of the garage and out into the sunlight.

"Oh god! Its beautiful!" they heard her exclaim and Dom chuckled.

"Madison huh?" he asked, putting his hands on Angela's hips.

"Yup, Madison. She's a racer."

"Is she really? What team does she run with?"

"I don't know. I'd have to ask her, but apparently she's pretty good. Alexandria…"

"Who?"

"My other sister. Anyway, every time she went to the races with Madison, she always saw her putting two grand in her jeans pocket."

"But she never actually saw her race?"

"Nope, Alexandria was…preoccupied at the moment."

"Preoccupied?"

"She was um…with um…"

"Oh." Dom said getting it.

"Yeah."

"So one sister is racer and one sister is a racer-chaser."

"Seems like."

"What an interesting family you have."

"Yeah I know."

"You were saying something back in my office about not being around forever. You leavin or something?"

"No but I might find some guy that I like, who likes me back, and who I want to be with."

"Like who?"

"I don't know. I guess I'll find out when it happens."

"If it happens."

"When it happens. There are a lot of guys in LA; there might be someone here for me. You never know."

"I don't like the thought of you with other guys." He admitted truthfully.

"Why?"

"I don't know." He said and she put her hands on his arms.

"Dom, you and I are not together. I want us to be, and I know you do too, but you feel you have to protect me. I think the real reason, is that you want to protect yourself."

"Excuse me?"

"You loved Letty and she hurt you, bad. I think that you feel that if you let anyone in again, that you're going to get hurt again."

"Uh Dom?" they heard and looked over seeing Madison.

"Yeah what is it?" he asked, taking his hands from Angela's hips.

"In my inspection of your car I noticed something. You have no backseat, where am I going to sit?"

"That's a problem ain't it."

"Yeah."

"I can ride with Leon." Angela said and he looked at her.

"You sure?" He asked.

"Yeah I'm sure," she said and he nodded.

"Okay," he said and walked away towards Madison. "Come on Madison, let's go." Dom and Madison walked out into the sunlight and disappeared.

"Leon!" Angela called out.

"Yeah?" he called back.

"I'm riding with you back to the house!"

"Okay!"

When Leon and Angela pulled up to the diner, Dom, Vince and Madison were already there. Vince was eating a bag of chips, rather messily too and Dom was leaning against the wall sipping from a soda can looking at Madison and Mia as they talked. Brian looking fondly at Mia. Dom looked up as Angela and Leon got out of the Skyline, walking up.

"Hey you two!" Mia said as she saw them.

"Hi." Angela said and sat down next to Madison.

"Hey." Leon said.

"So Angel," Mia said. "I was just talking to Madison. Who is your half-sister?"

"Yup she is."

"Younger than her by two years or something." Madison said and Mia nodded.

"Oh Madison before I forget," Angela said and Madison looked at her. "You said you were a street racer right?"

"Yeah."

"What team do you run with?"

"A group of Hispanics lead by a guy named Hector."

"Hector whose last name he can't pronounce?" Brian asked with a smile and Madison looked at him.

"Yeah, that's him." Madison said. "You know him?"

"We all do." Dom said. "He usually holds the money in the races we do. But I ain't ever seen you in his group before and he would've announced that he had a new winning racer."

"I drive the outside races in the desert. I guess he doesn't think I'm good enough to run with the pros." Madison admitted.

"Well I'll talk to Hector, but as far as I'm concerned you run with us now." He said and they all looked at him.

"Dom?" Leon asked.

"What? Oh come on Leon, she's Angel's sister."

"Half-sister." Vince pointed out.

"Same thing."

"Hey!" Madison exclaimed. "Don't I get any say in this?"

"Sure you do Madison." Dom said. "Do you want to stay with Hector's team? Or do you want to join ours? It's completely up to you."

"Hector taught me everything I know about racing. I wouldn't even _be_ a racer if it hadn't been for him." She said.

"Okay." He said nodding.

"But on the hand," she countered. "If it means spending time with a half-sister that I should have known all my life, a half-sister that I have more in common with than my full one, then okay. And besides," she smiled. "If it also means that I'll be running with the best street racing team in LA, I see no problem with that." She said and they laughed.


	9. IX

Madison was riding with Leon and Angela with Dom as they all went back to the house.

"She's nice." Dom said and Angela looked at him. "Madison I mean. She's a cute kid, I like her."

"Yeah I do too."

"So did I call it or what?" he asked smiling and looking over at her briefly.

"Huh?"

"Last night I asked what you would do if your dad showed up, and today he showed up."

"Yeah that was definitely something from the Twilight Zone."

"So how's the car coming?"

"It's goin good."

"That's good."

They were all sitting around the living room watching Pitch Black, the team making comments on how Dom looked exactly like Riddick.

"Will you guys stop!" he said and they laughed.

"I wonder if you can get those contacts online." Madison thought aloud from her seat on the floor and then looked at up Dom who was sitting on the couch, giving him a smile. "I hear your birthday is coming up after all." Dom smiled back and pointed a finger at her.

"You get me those contacts and I swear to god you'll regret it." He said and she stuck her tongue out at him, looking back at the TV screen. They got to the scene where Carolyn tackled Riddick into the mud, sitting astride him.

"I bet Angel would _love_ to sit on Dom like that." Vince said and Angela punched him in the shin from her seat on the floor next to Madison while the team laughed.

"She could never tackle me." Dom said and Angela looked at him with a grin and perked eyebrow.

"Oh I so could but I know you'd enjoy it too much." She said and he made a rude noise.

"Yeah." He said as if it was oh so obvious and they laughed.

"Quiet!" Mia said and they shut up and watched the movie.

"_Riddick what're you doing?" Jack asked. A creature appeared on the windshield and she gasped. "Can we just get the hell outta here now?"_

"_We can't leave." Riddick said and the creature was knocked away to be replaced by another. He looked at it with hate in his silver eyes. "Without saying goodnight." He jammed the throttle up and a plowed through the creatures, breaking atmosphere._

"Those were the best lines in whole damn movie!" Mia said and got shushed by the rest of them.

"Damn Riddick is _so_ sexy." Angela said when the movie was over, putting her forehead on her knees that were drawn up to her chest.

"Uh, yeah!" Madison said and Angela got up from the floor.

"Okay, well its about eight thirty so I better get you home Madison." She said and Madison stood.

Angela pulled up in front Madison's house in her SUV, yelling coming from inside the house. She grimaced.

"Ooh, you want me to walk you up?" she asked and Madison looked at her pleadingly.

"Thank you." she said and Angela turned her truck and they go out, walking up the front steps. Madison opened the door and Maria and Giovanni stopped yelling at each to look at them. "I'm home." She stated pointlessly and looked at Angela. "Thanks for movie, it was so awesome."

"No problem, any reason to pick on Dom is used within an inch of its life." She said and Madison snorted. "Next time we'll watch The Knockaround Guys."

"Another Vin Diesel movie?"

"Oh yeah." Angela said Madison laughed.

"That ought to be interesting."

"I love teasing him, it's so easy."

"So funny too." Madison said and Angela nodded, a smile on her face. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small pad of paper and a pen. She held the pad against the doorjamb and clicked the pen, writing a number and ripping the sheet off, handing it to Madison.

"If you ever want to talk." She said and Madison took it from her, folding it up and sticking it in her pocket.

"Thanks." She said and then hugged Angela abruptly, catching her off guard. "I'm glad you're my half-sister. I get along better with you than I do with Alexandria." She pulled away and ran her fingers through her dark brown hair.

"Night girl." Angela said and looked over at the two still looking at them. "Night Giovanni, Maria." She turned to walk away and the door closed behind her, the yelling resuming and now she heard what it was about, her. From what she's heard, Maria didn't like her and didn't want them to have anything to do with her. Giovanni did a good job at defending her and Madison jumped in.

Angela got into her car and drove off, going back to the house. The team was still in the living room, Vince and Leon lying on the floor playing a racing video game.

"You are so cheating V!" Leon exclaimed.

"No, you just suck at this game!" Vince said and they looked up as she closed the door. "Hey Angel."

"Hey Coyote." She said and stepped over them, Leon bumping against her leg intentionally in greeting. She sat down next to Dom on the couch and watched the two play the video game, leaning against him tiredly. His arm came around her shoulders and she started to doze lightly, it's been a tiring day after all.

She didn't truly realize how far she had slipped under until she woke to Dom carrying her up the stairs. She kept her eyes closed and reveled in his nearness. He stroked her hair lightly after setting her down on her bed and taking off her shoes and she moved her face into his hand in, what she hoped, was a subconscious manner. His lips pressed against her forehead gently and tears pricked at her eyes from his tenderness towards her. He left her room, shutting the door behind him and she opened her eyes, turning onto her side.


	10. X

Angela walked stiffly over to the couch the next night and sat down next to Dom with a groan.

"You okay?" he asked, not looking over at her but at the TV screen where Criss Angel's Mindfreak was on.

"My back hurts." She said and her eyes widened at the screen where the magician was pulling threaded needles, which he had just swallowed along with thread, out of his bellybutton. "Holy shit."

"Yeah I know, this show is sick." Dom said smiling and looked over at her. "Why does your back hurt?"

"I strained it today, picking something up at the garage."

"Shoulda called me, Vince, or Leon over to help you."

"I thought I could do it, and I did."

"But not without injuring yourself."

"Eh, I'll be fine." She said and looked around. "Where's the rest of the team?"

"They went out a little while ago. Won't be back until later."

"Oh, ok." She said and watched him as he stood from the couch.

"Come on, I'm gonna give you a massage." He said and she perked an eyebrow at him. "That's all, just a massage." She heaved herself off the couch and followed him up the stairs to his room. He told her what to do and she did it, laying face down on his bed, her face in his pillow.

Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, she inhaled his scent and closed her eyes, committing the smell to memory. The bed sank a little as Dom sat down next to her hip and soon his hands were on her back, pushing up and sliding back down. His fingers dug into the muscle and she groaned again. Her back spasmed as his hands slid under her shirt to touch her skin.

"It'd be easier if you, you know…" He said and she rolled over, looking up at him. "Just saying. I'll close my eyes." Just like he said he would, he closed his eyes and she sat up, pulling her shirt up over her head. She unclasped her bra and dropped it on the bed next to her with her shirt. She lay back on her stomach, her head on her hands.

"Okay, you can look now." She said and there was a slight intake of breath. She could feel Dom's eyes on her and she closed her own eyes. He moved her hair to the side gently, his fingertips running across the nape of her neck and making her shiver slightly.

Dom looked down at the smooth expanse of skin of her back. It looked soft and when he laid his hands on it he felt that it was. He began to rub the tensed muscles of her back, deftly working the hard knots out with his fingers. She hissed as he massaged her lower back and he eased up a little, gently rubbing at the muscles. He laid his hands flat against her back on either side of her spine and pushed them up, branching them off in different directions to run over her shoulders. Her arms came from above her head to by her sides and her shoulders rolled, a small mewling sound escaping her lips.

"Right there." she said, her voice soft. He massaged just under her shoulder blades and she made another small noise, making him have to contain a groan. His hands slid back down her lower back and he kept just his fingertips on her skin, his hands on her denim-clad butt. He worked his fingertips into the knotted muscles, moving them in opposite directions to her waist. He looked over at her clothes lying on the bed and almost groaned again as he saw the thin white lace that made up her bra. An image of her wearing it filled his mind and he ran his tongue across his lower lip. "Dom?" he looked at her and saw that his hands had stilled where they were on her waist. "You okay?"

"No," he said truthfully and sighed. "I'm not."

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I gotta be honest Angel." He said, "It's taking me all my control not to make love to you right now, not to be your first." He said and when he took his hands off her skin they felt as if they had been scalded. She was very quiet and very still and he could almost hear her thinking over his words.

"I'm not a child, Dom." Angela said. "I'm 18, that means I'm a legal, _consenting_ adult." She said and pushed herself up, sliding her knees under her. She kept her back to him, looking over her shoulder at him.

"I'm gonna be thirty-two Angela."

"I don't care."

"Five years ago, I was hijacking trucks. You were thirteen years old. A few years before that, I was in Lompoc for almost beating a man to death. You were what? Eight? Nine? I was in prison, and you were barely out of childhood."

"Dom…"

"Kind of puts the whole age thing into perspective doesn't it?" The front door opened then closed downstairs and the sound of Vince's voice as he talked to Mia drifted up to them. "The team's home. I'm gonna go downstairs and let you get dressed." His weight left the bed, his room door opening then closing and she got dressed again, feeling like the child that he made her seem to be with his little timeline.

After getting dressed, Angela didn't go downstairs but went right to her room, shutting the door behind her. She lay on her stomach, her face in her pillow. There was a gentle knock on her door and she picked her face up out of her pillow.

"Come in." she said and the door opened, then closed. Mia sat down on the bed and put her hand on her back.

"You okay sweetie?" She asked.

"I'm fine Mia, just tired." She said.

"What were you and Dom doing up here?" she asked and Angela looked at her.

"How do you know we were up here together?"

"He came downstairs and I heard you leave his room and go into here. You two finally together?"

"No. Apparently I'm too much of a child." she said and told Mia Dom's timeline.

"Damn, kind of puts things into perspective."

"That's what _he_ said."

"So what were you two doing?"

"I stressed my back at the garage today so he gave me a massage. And what makes it even worse is that my back doesn't hurt anymore." She said and pushed herself up, turning and sitting on the bed so she was facing the other woman. "So," she said, changing the subject. "What went on with you guys?"

"We went and saw Doom."

"How was it?"

"Surprisingly good. A bit scary and weird in some parts, but it was good."

"I'll have to go see it."

"With Dom?"

"Sure, and sit at the opposite end of the theater than him."

"Angel…"

"Mia, Dom has made his feelings clear. He wants me but can't get around the whole age thing. Chances are he'll meet someone closer to his own age that will just do it for him more than I can and all those feelings will be forgotten. Or vice versa." She said and a corner of Mia's mouth perked.

"Yeah, you definitely need a man. Maybe get laid while you're at it. Seriously, if you're this hung up on Dom, when's the last time you had sex?"

"I haven't had sex in eighteen going on nineteen years." she said and watched as Mia figured out her words.

"Wait a second…"

"Yes Mia, I'm a virgin. And I'm gonna tell you the same thing to you that I did Dom…"

"Dom knows?"

"Yeah he knows. Please don't tell anyone that I am."

"Why?"

"Again, I'm gonna tell you the same thing I told Dominic. Some guys might see it as an invitation and I don't want to deal with that."

"Being a girl, I can understand that a whole hell of a lot more than Dom can."

"Thanks Mia, now if you don't mind, I'd like to get some sleep. I really am tired."

"You don't want some dinner first?"

"Nah, I'll get something later." She said and Mia nodded.

"Sleep well hun." She said and got off the bed, leaving the room and closing the door behind her. Angela stripped down to her bra and underwear and crawled under the covers, pulling them up to her chin. She fell asleep rather quickly and soon was dreamed abstract images.

Much later that night, Dom pushed open her room door. She had not come down for the last four hours and Mia had said that she was taking a nap, but she had to be awake by now. Light from the hall fell onto the bed and he looked at Angela while she slept. She had pushed the covers off in her sleep and only thing pieces of white lace kept her modesty in tact. She was on her back; one arm across her stomach and the other lying stretched across the mattress. He entered the room and closed the door behind him quietly, going to the bed and sitting down next to her hip. Her chest rose and fell steadily with her breathing and he reached out, as if to touch her cheek, but pulled his hand away, letting it fall on the bed next to him. His fingers brushed her hips and she came awake with a gasp. She looked at him and her eyes widened.

"Dom!" she claimed and grabbed the sheet, pulling it up and covering her body. "What the hell are you doing here?" she asked, sitting up.

"I came to see if you were all right."

"Didn't Mia tell you I was sleeping?"

"Yeah, but I thought you'd be awake by now."

"Well I obviously wasn't, now get out, I'm not…decent." She said, her voice angry.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. You made your thoughts very clear to me today and I think you have no right to be looking at my half naked body when you won't allow yourself to be with me. Now get out." she said, extending her arm and pointing at the door. With one last helpless look to her, he got up and left, closing the door behind him. She flopped back down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling before falling back to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

I'm baaaaack!

* * *

Months passed since that night in Angela's room and she and Dom fell into a companionable rhythm, their feelings for each other pushed to the backs of their minds. If they weren't at races, the garage, or the store, they were hanging out at the fort, watching movies or hanging out with Madison who came over after school and almost everyday when it let out for the summer. Madison even took up a summer job at the garage and store, much against Maria's wishes, the influx of funds from both Angela and Madison racing allowing Dom to hire her as more help.

Half way through the summer, something with Angela changed, she became quieter, often found in corner of the shop, scribbling on a pad of paper in between jobs, or locked away in her room either alone or with Madison. Angela started leaving the garage right after work was done, and wasn't seen or heard from for hours before she got back to the house without so much as an word for explanation. One day she came into the garage with a large bandage covering her shoulder and bicep of her right arm all the way down to her elbow. Later that day, they knew why as she took off the bandage revealing a half sleeve tattoo of beautifully done tawny feathers encasing her upper arm up to and covering her shoulder.

She became less interested in going to parties after races, and often disappeared altogether, one of the team getting a text from her saying that she'll be home later and then not showing up until dawn.

One of these times, she walked in just as the sun was peeking up over the horizon to find Dom already up, sitting in the living room watching early morning TV.

"Good…morning." she said, knowing that it was incredibly out of character for him to be up this early. She went for the stairs, but his voice stopped her on the bottom landing.

"We need to talk." he said and she sighed.

"Can it wait? I'm tired."

"Get over here." he said and she turned, going into the living room and sitting on the other end of the couch from him as he turned off the TV. "Where were you all night?"

"I was out."

"Out where?"

"What? Did I have a curfew or something?"

"Where were you, Angela?"

"I have friends other than the team, you know."

"You disappearing for hours at a time is stopping, now." he said and her eyes narrowed at him.

"And why is it?"

"Because this is my house, so my rules."

"Yeah, okay…dad." she said rolling her eyes and suddenly found his hand fisting her hair at the back of her head, his face very close to hers. The kiss he gave her scalded her lips and sent a lightening bolt through her body.

"I'm not your father." the desire that burned in his eyes frightened and thrilled her, his breath warm against her face. His hand loosened in her hair and started to pull away, but she grabbed him with her hands on either side of his face and kissed him deep and hard, pushing him back and sliding a leg over his lap so she straddling his hips. He pulled back as he wrapped his hands around her waist as if to move her off. "Angela…" she silenced him with a finger on his lips.

"Dom, shut the fuck up and take me to your room." the fire in his eyes flared and with a growl he stood from the couch, carrying her up the stairs with her legs around his waist.

Her back hit his mattress and he grasped the edges of her button up shirt, pulling it open and sending the buttons flying, driving a sound from her lips. She got out of the remnants of her shirt as she kicked off her black leather flats and he undid the button her jeans, pulling the zipper down and yanking them off, almost pulling her off the bed. With his hands around her waist, he pushed her up farther, looking down at her in her black lace bra and panties laying on his bed with flushed skin and a cape of golden brown hair fanning out around her.

With a groan, Dom leaned over her with one knee on the bed between her legs, pressing a kiss between her breasts and making her grasp the back of his head, his name escaping her lips in a gasp. Her hands slid down his back, fisting the white t-shirt he was wearing and trying to pull it off him. Dom got the hint and pulled off his shirt, tossing it behind him to the floor.

"Are we really going to do this?" Angela asked, her voice breathy as she mapped his chest and shoulders with her hands.

"Babe, there's no way I'm stopping now." he said and their lips met in another scalding kiss. Her hands slid down to his sweatpants, caressing the bulge she found there and making him growl again. "Besides, you started it." Angela hooked a leg over his hip and pushed his chest, throwing him off balance and onto his back on the bed, putting her in the position to sit up on him.

"Bullshit, I started it." she said looking down at him as she undid her bra, taking it off and throwing it behind her. Dom's eyes were glued to her breasts as he sat up, capturing one of the stiff peaks in the warmth of his mouth, making her gasp his name again. He lashed at her nipple with his tongue, scraping it gently with his teeth before withdrawing to give the same attention to the other.

Angela's breath came in pants as warmth rushed through her body, gathering between her legs and making her throb. His lips on her flesh were a tortuous pleasure and she found her hips rocking against him of their own accord. She pressed her hands to his chest and pushed him back down to the bed, laying on his chest as she kissed him deeply. Dom parted her lips and deepened the kiss, his tongue exploring the warm, wet cavern of her mouth. Almost tentatively, she did the same and he groaned at the taste of her, fisting her hair at the back of her head again to keep them connected. After a while, she pulled away and kissed his chin, starting to move down his body. She kissed a line down his chest, kneading the heavy muscles with her hands and stopped as she got the waistband of his sweatpants, smiling up at him while he looked down at her with parted lips and wide eyes. Slipping her fingertips into the hem, she started to pull down his sweatpants but he grabbed her arms, stopping her.

"Angel, you don't have to…" he started, "This should be about you." she gently shook off his arms.

"I want to know you, Dom, every part of you." she said and pulled his sweatpants down his hips, allowing his thick erection to stand free of restraint. Dom gripped the sheets with white knuckles as she caressed the shaft gently with her fingers, her fingertips flitting over the sensitive head.

"Angel…"

"Shh." she said and kissed the head gently making him cry out hoarsely. As best she could, she took him into her mouth, caressing him with her tongue. His hands went to her hair as her mouth slid down him as far as she could go, her hands caressing what she couldn't fit. Drawing upwards, she paused before taking him into her mouth again, starting a pace that made him pant and his hips twitch, sweat beading on his forehead. His hands slid from her hair to her arms, dragging her up his body to kiss her fiercely, his mouth dominating hers as he turned them so she was under him, kicking off his sweatpants and pressing between her legs and making her cry out. He grabbed the side of her panties and with a flex of muscle, ripped them from her body, making her gasp in surprise.

"You're perfect." he said as his hand went between her legs, finding her wet and ready for him. "So fucking perfect." he took himself in his hand, lining the wide head up with her entrance and rubbed her slightly, wetting the end of himself with her arousal. Their eyes met as he pushed in, her body clenching at the invasion, a quick look of pain crossing her features making him stop. "Just relax." he breathed and she did. "Are you ready?" she nodded and he grabbed her hips in his hands to hold her still. With one mighty roll of his hips, he pushed all the way inside her, breaking that thin barrier and seating himself to the hilt. Tears rolled down her face and he kissed them away, laying over her and holding her to his chest until she stretched to accommodate him, waiting for the pain to stop and for her to give him in the go ahead.

The pain was almost unbearable, it felt like she was being torn in half. Dom mumbled nonsense comfort words in her ear as she breathed through it and soon the pain subsided. He shifted his hips slightly and she gasped again, but not from pain, from pleasure. The feeling of him inside her was almost beautiful, as if she had been completed somehow. Taking her face out of his chest, their eyes met again as they kissed sweetly. Dom started to move his hips, drawing out slightly and pushing back in. He was so gentle with her, and it was driving her insane.

"I'm not a china doll, Torreto, I'm not going to break." she said, digging her fingertips into his buttocks, and he chuckled. His strokes lengthened and his hips started moving faster, sweat rolling down his back. Her hips started to move against him and his jaw clenched at the feelings of her surrounding him, her slick walls gripping him so tightly he felt like he was going to explode. "Keep going, just like that." she panted as her head went back into the pillows and her eyes fluttered closed.

"Open your eyes, baby." Dom said as he felt his orgasm gathering in the base of his spine. Her eyes opened and he pressed his forehead to hers so their gazes locked into one another. He could feel her orgasm also approaching, her inner walls starting to tremble and clench around him. His hips slowed and he took long, slow strokes, wanting to feel her around him forever, wanting to memorize the way she felt for the first time.

"No, don't stop." she pleaded, a red blush spreading across her chest and cheeks. Her whole body felt like a rubber band being twisted too tight, something building inside of her and burning along her nerve endings coming from where they were joined. His hips sped again and the rubber band broke, waves of pleasure crashing into her over and over again, making her cry out his name.

It was all he could do to keep his orgasm back, wanting to prolong the feel of her clenching around him as she came. He couldn't anymore and it screamed along his spine. With one final thrust, seating himself as far into her as he could go, he came hard, bathing her inner walls with his liquid orgasm.

He almost collapsed on her, his shaking arms keeping most of his weight off of her, his face going into her hair as he panted in her ear. Her hands ran along his back and shoulders as he slid out of her and rolled onto the bed next to her, Angela automatically curling against his chest with her head over his rapid beating heart. He laced his fingers with hers that was on his chest as he ran his fingertips up and down her slick back.

"We should probably get cleaned up." She said and he looked at them, seeing the blood and other fluids on her thighs as well as on him and the sheets. Moving out from under her, he got off the bed and held a hand down to her, smiling when her hand slipped into his and she allowed him to pull her up from the bed and against his body, catching her wince.

"You okay?" he asked and she nodded.

"Just sore." she said and he moved away from her, going to his dresser and pulling out a shirt, tossing it to her. The shirt hit her about mid-thigh as she pulled it on to cover her nakedness while he put his sweatpants back on. Angela tried to move past him to the door, but squeaked in surprise when Dom swept her up in his arms, carrying her out the bedroom and down the hall to the bathroom, the door closing behind them.

He washed her with gentle hands, making sure he got all physical remnants of their lovemaking off her skin, massaging her scalp as he washed her thick fall of hair. She in turn cleaned him, using her hands instead of the loofah, making them slick with soap and running them over his skin. After they were both clean and rinsed off, they stood there under the hot spray, her back against his chest and his arms around her, his chin resting on the top of her head. She turned in his arms, wrapping hers around his waist and kissing his chest.

"Do you regret it?" She asked, looking up at him and he looked back at her with kind eyes.

"Not one second." he said and they kissed gently. "Kinda wished we did it sooner." he said with a mischievous smile and she laughed.

"That's all on you, bud." she said and he kissed her nose, loving the way it wrinkled when she laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Reaching behind her, he turned off the spray and got out of the shower, holding a towel open for her. Smiling, she leapt at him and he caught her in his arms, wrapping the towel around her and kissing her again. Angela pulled away from him to secure the towel around herself and brush her wet hair, getting all of the tangles out and making it hang in thick cords around her body while Dom secured his own towel around his hips. Going for the door, she laughed in surprise as he smacked her ass, chasing her out of the bathroom.

They both stopped as Mia met them in the hallway, looking tired and disheveled. She looked them both up and down, Angela holding back giggles and Dom looking unapologetic.

"You two," she started, "Are loud." a blush spread across Angela's cheeks.

"Sorry." she said and Mia hugged her tight.

"Its about damn time." she said and pulled away. "Try to keep it down next time." she moved past them to the bathroom, the door closing behind her.

Angela helped Dom strip his bed and change the sheets, balling the dirty ones up by his laundry basket before they climbed into under the new top sheet and light blanket, ditching the towels to lay pressed together skin to skin.

"So," Dom said with a sigh, closing his eyes as he pulled her tight against him, "How exactly did I start it?"

"Go to sleep, Dom." she said, also closing her eyes and snuggling in against his chest.

"That's what I thought."

* * *

I was going to make this a dream sequence of Dom's or Angela's, but decided that was too cruel, hehe.


	12. Chapter 12

If it was at all possible, Angela was even more sore when she woke up before Dom sometime that afternoon. He was laying sound asleep at her back, an arm around her waist with his face buried in her neck. She tried to move away from him, but his arm tightened, keeping her put.

"Dom?" she whispered, "Dominic?" she said in a sing-song voice.

"Hmm?" he grumbled, coming awake.

"I have to get up."

"Mmmm," his lips started to press lazy kisses into the back of her neck. "No you don't." he said and nuzzled her ear, making her smile.

"I have to go to the bathroom." she said and he sighed, his arm leaving her waist.

"Okay, but hurry up, I want my woman back in my bed."

"Your woman, huh?" she asked, getting out of bed, wincing at the soreness between her legs.

"That's right. My woman." He said and she watched him bury his face into her pillow with his eyes closed as she pulled on another one of his shirts.

"You are too cute." she said with a smile and he looked at her then.

"Cute? Woman, I am not cute." he said and her smile widened.

"Absolutely adorable."

"When you get back I'm going to show you just how cute I'm not." he said and she stuck her tongue out at him as she walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her. While she was gone, Dom got out of bed and went to behind the door, waiting for her. After a few minutes, Angela came back and he grabbed her from behind, smiling at her squeak of surprise as he kicked the door closed.

"We can't stay in bed all day, you know." she said as he walked them back to bed, sliding his hands up the shirt and taking it off of her, running his hands over her body.

"Say's who?" Dom asked, kissing the curve of her shoulder as he palmed her breasts.

"Says me, I'm all sore from this morning. Walking is difficult for me." she said and he stopped what he was doing, going to the front of her and sitting on the edge of the bed with his hands around her waist.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking up at her with concern in his eyes.

"I'm fine, I just need to rest up and heal." she said, cupping the side of his face with her hand. "But I do need to put some underwear on."

"Are you still bleeding?" he asked and looked at her thighs, but saw no trace of blood.

"Only a little, I cleaned up in the bathroom." pulling her closer, he pressed his lips into her abdomen and laid his cheek against her warm, soft skin.

"I didn't mean to hurt you." he said and she made him look at her with her hands holding his face.

"You didn't hurt me. I was a virgin, and from what I've read and learned, its normal for there to be some bleeding after the first time." she said and his brow furrowed in confusion.

"But Letty didn't bleed the first time she and I had sex, in fact it didn't even seem painful for her, not like how it was for you."

"That's because she probably wasn't a virgin."

"She told me was."

"She lied."

"It doesn't matter anymore, she's gone and you're here and that's all that matters." Dom said and kissed her stomach again right when it decided to growl in hunger. Laughing, he stood and picked up the discarded shirt, handing it to her and she put it on again.

"Where's my underwear from this morning?" she asked, looking around, but he found them first, peeking out from under the bed.

"I don't think these are going do you much good, babe." he said, holding them up and she snatched them out of his hand.

"Damnit, Dom, why did you have to shred them?"

"They got in my way." he said with a shrug, as if that was a good enough explanation.

"Well you owe me a trip to Frederick's of Hollywood."

"I don't see a downside there." he said and she stuck her tongue out at him again, leaving his room. She had been tempted to leave the door open seeing as he was still in full nudity, but she decided against it, best not traumatize the others.

Dom got dressed and made it downstairs before she did, mumbling a greeting at Vince and Leon who were playing the Xbox 360 in the living room, the newest Bioshock from the sounds of it.

"Splicer! Splicer!" Leon exclaimed, pressing furiously on the buttons.

"I see it!" Vince said, "You just cover the Little Sister!"

"_I have the best Big Daddies in the whole world!" _the creepy little girls voice said through the speakers of the TV. _"All the other Little Sisters want to have Big Daddies like mine!"_

"Damn straight you do." Vince said.

"Fuck yeah, they do." Leon said, "You carry her, I'll be point man this time, I think there's a Big Sister on this level."

Dom watched this interaction with a perked eyebrow, then shook his head, heading to the kitchen to get something to eat. Mia and Brian were sitting at the small kitchen table, eating lunch when he walked in, going to the fridge to open the door and lean over look inside.

"Where's Angel?" Mia asked just as the girl in question walked in the room dressed in a t-shirt and basketball shorts.

"Right here." She said and squeezed Dom's ass as she walked past to go to the cupboards, getting a glass out. The squeeze made Dom stand upright with a small noise and Mia and Brian laugh. "That was for the smack earlier." she said, reaching past him to get the orange juice, pouring herself a glass and putting it back in the fridge.

"Hit her with the freeze ray!" Leon exclaimed from the living room. "The freeze ray, V! The freeze ray!"

"She won't hold still! Shit! There are Splicers everywhere!" Vince yelled back and there was a small scream.

"_Big Daddy! Save me!"_

"I'll protect the Little Sister, you take care of this bitch." Leon said and Angela stuck her head into the living room.

"Hey guys? You want to play Assassins Creed Brotherhood later?" she asked.

"Fuck yeah!" they answered in unison.

* * *

Yep, not much happened in this chapter, I'm in a gaming frame of mind tonight, mainly because I haven't played my 360 in forever. And yes, I know Bioshock multiplayer doesn't allow you to work together through the levels, I just thought it would be cool if it did so I wrote it that way. More will happen next chapter, I promise.

You probably noticed the difference in writing styles from chapter 1-10 and now, I wrote the early chapters when I was still figuring out what kind of style I was going to have, I also happened to have been in high school at the time. I've matured as an person and as a writer, and my change in style reflects that, I hope.

Until next time

-Catie


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